Google expands in Brazil seeking to improve areas of privacy and security

(Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Google is slated to hire 200 engineers in Brazil this year, as it seeks to bolster its privacy, security, and anti-abusive content technologies, Berthier Ribeiro-Neto, its director of engineering for Latin America, told Reuters on Tuesday.

The 2023 hiring push would double the current number of engineers working in Latin America's largest country with a focus on "local talents" that could create products not only for Brazil, but for the world.

The job offers will be focused on the southeastern states of Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo, the country's tech hubs, but with the possibility of remote work.

Answering questions from Reuters via e-mail, Ribeiro-Neto also highlighted that the planned hires are part of a global expansion plan prioritizing Google's main markets outside the United States.

"With such a relevant market, we believe it is important to have more and more Brazilians at the forefront of the development of our technologies," he said, adding that Brazil is among the top five countries for the use of products such as Android, Chrome, YouTube and Maps.

(Reporting by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Sandra Maler)