Facebook is one of the largest and most popular social media platforms in the world, with over 2.8 billion monthly active users as of Q2 2020. Given its widespread global reach, Facebook has established offices and operations across the globe to support its growing user base.
Facebook’s Presence in Malaysia
Yes, Facebook does have an office location in Malaysia. Facebook first established a presence in Malaysia in 2014, when it opened its office in Kuala Lumpur.
Facebook’s Malaysia office is located at:
Menara Chooi Yue (formerly known as Menara Kencana), 2 Jalan Yong Shook Lin, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
The office is situated in the Damansara Heights neighborhood of Kuala Lumpur, a modern business district home to many tech companies and startups.
Operations and Functions of Facebook’s Malaysia Office
Facebook’s Malaysia office supports the company’s operations not just in Malaysia but across the Southeast Asia region. The Kuala Lumpur office serves as Facebook’s regional headquarters for Southeast Asia.
Some of the key functions and operations of Facebook’s Malaysian office include:
- Sales and Marketing – The sales and marketing teams support Facebook’s advertising and partnership efforts in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
- Engineering – Facebook employs software engineers, data scientists, and other technical experts to support its products and services.
- Community Operations – Community operations associates address user complaints, enforce policies, and engage with local organizations.
- Content Partnerships – The office builds relationships with media companies, celebrities, brands and other content creators in the region.
- Corporate Functions – Functions like legal, human resources, facilities, finance and government relations have support staff based in Kuala Lumpur.
In essence, the Malaysia office supports Facebook’s rapidly growing user base in Southeast Asia across all functions – from engineering to sales to content moderation.
Size of Facebook’s Presence in Malaysia
Facebook has steadily expanded its presence in Malaysia over the years, reflecting the country’s strategic importance and rapid user growth. Some key milestones:
- 2014 – Facebook first established its Malaysian office in 2014 with around 15 employees.
- 2015 – By 2015, the Malaysia office grew to about 50 employees.
- 2017 – Facebook’s Malaysia headcount crossed 100 employees by 2017.
- 2019 – As of 2019, Facebook had over 150 employees based in Malaysia, making it one of the company’s larger offices in Asia.
Based on these figures, Facebook’s Malaysian workforce has grown over 10x since the office first opened in 2014. The company continues to actively hire in areas like engineering, sales, content partnerships, and more.
In addition to permanent employees, Facebook’s Malaysia office also houses visiting employees from its global offices, vendors, and support staff.
Reasons for Facebook’s Growing Presence in Malaysia
There are several strategic reasons why Facebook has built up a major presence in Malaysia over the years:
- Large and growing user base – Malaysia has one of the largest Facebook user populations in Southeast Asia, with over 25 million users as of 2020.
- Young, mobile-first demographic – Malaysia has a median age of 28 years old, providing a young mobile-first audience aligned with Facebook’s strengths.
- Tech talent base – Malaysia has a strong base of engineering, design and tech talent that Facebook can tap into for recruitment.
- Regional hub – Malaysia serves as a gateway and hub to support Facebook’s expansion across fast-growing Southeast Asia.
- Supporting clients – Facebook’s sales and partnership teams in Malaysia provide support and service to major Malaysian and regional advertisers and partners.
- Content and language expertise – Facebook gathers insights into key languages and cultures like Malay, Indonesian, and Vietnamese via its Malaysia office.
In summary, the combination of a large local user base, regional proximity, talent availability, and client needs make Malaysia an ideal location for Facebook’s growing Asian presence.
| Year | Estimated Employees |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 15 |
| 2015 | 50 |
| 2017 | 100 |
| 2019 | Over 150 |
Facebook’s Job Openings in Malaysia
Based on current openings listed on Facebook’s careers page, here are some of the types of positions the company is hiring for in Malaysia:
- Software Engineering – Software engineers work across Facebook’s web, mobile, backend and infrastructure teams.
- Product Marketing – Product marketers develop positioning and messaging for Facebook’s products.
- Partner Engineers – Partner engineers collaborate with Facebook’s global advertising clients on campaign optimization.
- User Operations – User operations specialists focus on safety, privacy and responding to reports of harmful content.
- Research – Researchers work to gain insights into topics like misinformation, governance, and ethics.
Some other functions like digital marketing, public policy, partnerships, and facilities also have job openings in Malaysia. This indicates that Facebook is still in growth mode and aims to continue expanding its Malaysian workforce.
Benefits for Malaysia From Facebook’s Presence
Facebook’s growing presence in Malaysia over the past decade has brought some key benefits for the country’s economy and labor force:
- High-paying tech jobs – Facebook’s engineering and product roles in particular pay higher-than-average salaries in Malaysia.
- Skills development – Working at Facebook provides valuable opportunities for Malaysian graduates and professionals to gain experience at a top global tech firm.
- Training local partners – Facebook’s sales, marketing and partnership teams provide training to many local SMEs, publishers and advertisers in Malaysia.
- Contractor opportunities – Facebook’s office expansion leads to contract jobs for local vendors, suppliers and support services.
- Prestige of hosting MNC – Hosting an influential global company like Facebook brings prestige and reflects positively on Malaysia’s business environment.
In addition to these benefits, Facebook’s business activities in Malaysia also contribute to the economy more broadly through taxes, real estate footprint, and community programs organized by its local office.
Controversies Related to Facebook’s Presence in Malaysia
However, Facebook’s operations in Malaysia have also been met with some controversies over the years:
- Political manipulation – Facebook has been criticized for not doing enough to stop the spread of misinformation and manipulation during Malaysian elections.
- Harmful content – Controversial and illegal content like hate speech, nudity, and scams continues to spread on Facebook in Malaysia despite the local office’s efforts.
- Data privacy – Some privacy advocates argue Facebook does not do enough to protect the data and privacy of Malaysian users.
- Tax practices – Facebook’s international tax structuring has been questioned for not contributing more taxes to the Malaysian economy.
Addressing these issues and concerns will likely be an ongoing focus for Facebook’s public policy and community operations teams based in Malaysia.
Conclusion
In summary, Facebook established its Malaysian office in 2014 and has since grown to over 150 employees. The Malaysia office serves as Facebook’s regional hub for Southeast Asia across functions like engineering, partnerships, sales, policy and marketing. Facebook continues to actively hire in Malaysia to tap into the region’s large youth population, tech talent base and rapidly growing social media usage. While Facebook’s presence has brought benefits like high-paying jobs and economic contributions, the company still faces criticisms around political manipulation, harmful content and privacy protection locally. Addressing these issues while continuing to expand remains a key priority for Facebook Malaysia.