Google has opened a new research and development centre, based in Zurich (Switzerland), which is home to more than 300 engineers which makes it Google's largest engineering centre outside the U.S. and promises to be a hub for ongoing product innovation and development. Google has announced its intention to hire some of the best engineers from throughout Europe, attracting the best talent from world class universities. Indeed, it is no coincidence that Google bases its R&D centres near those centres of educational excellence. As far as Europe is concerned the Zurich centre joins others located in Aarhus (Denmark), Dublin (Ireland), Haifa (Israel), Krakow (Poland), London (UK), Lulea (Sweden), Moscow (Russia), Munich (Germany), St Petersburg (Russia), Tel Aviv (Israel) and Trondheim (Norway.)
Nelson Mattos, Google's VP of Engineering, EMEA, told us "Google's distributed approach to engineering means that the engineers here are working on core projects with global impact. Our international teams encourage the cross-pollination of ideas and foster the culture of innovation that has been key to Google's success."
"In the past few years, Google has made substantial investments in Europe. Teams in EMEA now drive the development of some of Google's most popular products" added Mario Quieroz, Google's VP of Product Management, EMEA and Latin America. "Google has always believed in hiring the brightest people, wherever they are. The growth of our European engineering organisation shows how successful that strategy has been.