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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Zoom Video Communications Inc said on Wednesday it will expand its presence in Singapore by opening a research and development center and will immediately hire hundreds of engineers for the new operations.
The video conferencing service provider said in a statement that it is also doubling the capacity of its data center in the country. The San Jose, California-based company launched the Singapore data center, the first in Southeast Asia, in August.
The company has seen an increase in users of its video conferencing service this year, with millions of workers and students using its video platform while working and studying from home due to crashes caused by the coronavirus.
“We plan to hire employees immediately,” said Velchamy Sankarlingam, Zoom president of products and engineering, as the company’s expansion plans are being discussed.
Zoom said it would select the location for its new center as pandemic-related remote work mode declines, adding to its existing R&D centers in the United States, India and China.
In recent years, Singapore has stepped up its efforts to attract tech-related companies, including global players like Facebook, Alphabet’s Google, and Chinese tech giants Tencent and Alibaba, a sector it hopes will drive the city-state’s economic growth. .
Last month, the low-tax global business center announced a new work visa for foreign tech company executives, even as it tightens broader immigration restrictions to try to allay fears about competition for jobs due to rising employment. unemployment.
Zoom has previously said its hiring plans for Singapore would include engineers and sales staff. The company said it has more than 3,800 employees worldwide, but did not provide staff for its Singapore operations.
While the stock price rose roughly 500% in 2020, Zoom warned last month that margins would remain under pressure next year, as its large number of free users makes it difficult to offset an increase in costs to maintain market share. increase.
(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan and John Geddie in Singapore; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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