AUSTIN -- Chances are, you’re on Facebook. The social networking giant how has more than 800 million users worldwide.
Based in California, there are 30 global offices. North America’s second-largest office is now in Austin.
Sarah Smith, a Stanford Business School graduate, helps run the place.
“We’re on two floors, and we expect to continue to grow this year,” Smith said.
In less than two years, Facebook in Austin has grown from a half-dozen employees to more than 180 workers, and it is adding to that. Twenty job openings are now listed for Austin on Facebook’s website.
Though the company will not disclose how much it pays, the benefits of working there are clear. There are three free meals a day, creative nooks where employees can take a break, and no private offices at all. All work is done in the open.
“You’ll find we work very openly in neighborhoods,” Smith said. “Different teams have different neighborhoods where they work together, and it is a very easy, collaborative environment.”
Smith said the bulk of the work done in Austin is in operations, sales, and account management.
Susan Davenport is with the Austin Chamber of Commerce and said that Facebook has been a great fit for the city.
“It’s become the perfect example of how relevant Austin has become, and what we have to leverage,” Davenport said.
Though the company is worth billions of dollars, it is still relatively small. There are 3,000 Facebook employees worldwide. Google, by comparison, has roughly ten times as many workers.
