Facebook Opening Austin Office; 200 Jobs Expected

Facebook is expected to open an office in Austin, Tex. that will be the first in the U.S. outside of its headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. The expansion into Austin was buoyed by a $200,000 incentive offered by the city and will result in about 200 new jobs.

According to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Facebook will spend about $3.1 million to set up the Austin office.

“Facebook continues to grow and Austin, with its deep talent pool, would allow us to hire the high-caliber employees we need to properly serve the people, advertisers and developers that rely on our service,” Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in a statement.

The social-networking site currently employs about 1,200 people.