London confirmed as the technology capital despite the Brexit – The Figaro

The announcement by Facebook of the construction of a new headquarters and creating 500 new jobs is good news for London, confirming its status as european capital of new technologies despite the prospect of Brexit. Apple, Google and now Facebook: in the space of a few weeks the three american giants of the internet and technology have all announced investments in the Uk and in particular in the capital, with the most often new hires to the key. These decisions away a little more fears of a loss of attractiveness of the country, while serious doubts have emerged since the vote for the Brexit end of June, which could result in a loss of unhindered access to the european single market.Monday, on the occasion of the annual conference of the british business lobbying organisation the CBI (Confederation of British Industry), Facebook announced that it would open a new office in London in 2017, and expand its workforce in the Uk by 50% by creating 500 jobs. “The Uk is one of the best places for a technology company and is an important part of the history of Facebook. We came to London in 2007 with a handful of employees and by the end of next year we will open a new headquarters and is planning to employ 1,500 people in total,” explained in a press release Nicola Mendelsohn, vice-president of Facebook for Europe.The new headquarters is currently under construction in Fitzrovia in the centre of the capital london.For the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, quoted in the press release of Facebook, it is a “new proof” that the british capital remains at the cutting edge to attract technology companies. This announcement is the second piece of good news in the space of a week, and the decision taken by the g iant us computer Google to build a large building in the centre of London, which could accommodate eventually up to 3,000 additional employees, resulting in a total investment of 1 billion pounds (about 1.7 billion euros).Similarly, in September, Apple had announced that he was going to install in the power station, disused Battersea its HQ in london, which will thus become a major brand in the world with

1.400 employees.These ads devote London as the technology capital, at the time, recently published a study conducted by the European Digital Forum, considering that it is the best city in Europe for start-up of the digital.- Highly skilled engineers – The inquiry welcomes, in particular access to financing, entrepreneurial culture and the presence of a skilled workforce, noting that “despite the fears associated with the Brexit, the city still attracts great talent from around the world”. Facebook has also indicated that most of the new jobs will be engineers, hig hly-trained, recalling that it is particularly in the United Kingdom that it has developed the social network for business Workplace,was launched in October.The group has relied heavily on foreign labour, since some 65 nationalities are represented in its workforce british, engineers, developers, business or marketing. “The commitment of Facebook is a further sign that London is open to the talent, innovation and entrepreneurship coming from the four corners of the world”, said the mayor of London.These statements are required so that a large part of the campaign for the Brexit has been on the immigration issues and that the First minister Theresa May has stated his desire to have control of its borders. The Europeans, on the contrary, recalled that the free movement went hand in hand with access to the single market. “We have the ambition that the Uk becomes the country where it must be for scientists, innovators and investors in the technology,” said Theres a May in a speech Monday at the conference of the IWC.It was, however, immediately warned that “we will continue to welcome the brightest and the best, but we can’t do that by bringing immigration to acceptable levels”.