(Toronto) Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg’s grand plan to create an immersive digital universe will be supported by a slew of Canadian hires and a new engineering center in Toronto.
Posted at 2:48 p.m.
The parent company of social network Facebook announced Tuesday that it will add more than 2,500 employees to its Canadian contingent over the next five years, including many in its new engineering center and others working from home.
The hiring operation aims to advance Meta’s plans to create a metaverse, an emerging, interactive world using virtual and augmented reality to help people connect, entertain and do business.
The company chose Canada because of its “vast talent pool” and “vibrant tech ecosystem,” said Meta public policy manager Rachel Curran.
“Ontario, Toronto in particular, is becoming a true center of the innovation economy and the technology economy […]so we get on board,” she claimed.
The new recruits will join Meta’s first Canadian engineering teams working on WhatsApp, Messenger and Remote Presence, which create synchronous communication products that allow users to complete tasks like watching videos together.
Other recruits will join the company’s artificial intelligence research departments and Reality Labs, which have worked on Oculus and Portal devices.
Many of these workers will be at work in a new space in downtown Toronto. The new offices are larger than Meta’s current space in the MaRS Discovery District, Ms.me Curran. She declined to share more details about the future office.
Mme Curran noted, however, that many new hires will be working remotely, which will allow the company to attract even more talent.
“In the past, Canadians often had to move to the United States to work for big tech companies, so now we’re saying ‘no, you can stay in Canada,'” Ms.me Curran.
“You can stay in your community, you can stay close to your family, and you can continue to work in one of these high-paying, high-skilled jobs of the future, which is a really exciting development. »
But this development worries start-ups and local businesses.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, they watched foreign giants Microsoft, DoorDash, Amazon, Google, Wayfair, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit and Netflix unveil Canadian hiring plans. Several intended to place workers in technical or engineering positions, and some even announced that they would bolster hiring with new offices.
Many small local businesses were concerned that they could not match the higher salaries and bigger names that these companies offer. To attract staff, they have turned to perks that strike the imagination, such as unlimited holidays, Fridays off and welfare allowances.
For his part, M.me Curran believes that expanding Meta will help them.
“These investments make the cake bigger. They make Toronto, they make Ontario a more attractive destination for workers, for businesses of different sizes,” she said.
“As the system gets stronger and grows, it will be good for everyone. »
She also announced that Meta would be offering $510,000 in unrestricted grants to 17 Canadian research labs working on projects to advance Metaverse-related innovations.
Recipients of the $30,000 grants include researchers from the University of Toronto, University of British Columbia and University of Waterloo.
Meta will not impose conditions on the funding or require it to be applied to particular initiatives, Mr.me Curran.
Meta funds a scholarship program that supports journalist positions at The Canadian Press.