Facebook will hire thousands of employees to maintain growth forecasts

The social networking giant Facebook , which is preparing to go public , announced plans to hire thousands of employees over the next year to keep their expectations for rapid growth. "We're growing very quickly," said chief operating officer of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, at a press conference in New York.

Facebook does not usually publish their profits, but a source with knowledge of the matter in respect to its results in September said the company had nearly 372 million euros (500 million) net profit in the first half of the year, since the revenues doubled to 1,191 million euros (1,600 million) compared to 2010.

Sandberg visited New York on Friday to announce that his company would begin hiring engineers in the city, where he has a small office on Madison Avenue with about 100 workers. The vast majority of its 3,000 workers are in the seat of Palo Alto, California, and other offices set up in Seattle.

Sandberg did not say how many engineers would use Facebook in New York or explained how the company would add workers over the next year. Is expected to begin trading on the stock exchange in 2012. "We're trying to grow at a pace that allows us to have the best people and integrate them, " he said during the press conference, where he attended New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Senator Charles Schumer. "hiring thousands employees in the next year, "he said.

Facebook currently leases an area of 3,800 square meters for marketing and advertising division in a single floor of Madison Avenue, also known as Bank of America Plaza. The company seeks an agreement to have another floor of the same size there, according to sources close to the transaction.