Since the inauguration, every time Mayor Francisco de la Torre visits the centre or meets with Quintero, he asks the same question: Are they already thinking about expanding the GSEC?
Now he has a compelling reason to ask because more than 100 people are working at the cybersecurity centre in Malaga, according to the company, which has not specified the exact number.
From that distant 2012 (when there were six people on the VirusTotal payroll) until now, Google has maintained a slow, discreet, but steady pace of contracting more workers.
Its managers have never promised to hire hundreds of people. The type of work at this highly specialised centre for detecting cyber threats doesn't lend itself to a very large staff, but it does require a highly qualified one (with high salaries).
Now, Google's Malaga office can be considered full. This doesn't actually mean there isn't room for even one more employee, as there's a very flexible policy regarding in-person work and many employees work remotely or in a hybrid model.
New vacancies
Just a few weeks ago, Bernardo Quintero announced 14 new vacancies at GSEC, among them software engineers of varying levels and specialisations, ranging from junior professionals with little experience to those with eight years of experience and a high level of specialisation in AI applied to cybersecurity.
Currently, Google's job portal allows applications for five positions in Malaga: Level III Software Engineer for GTI (Google Technical Infrastructure); Level II Software Engineer for Threat Intelligence; Principal Software Engineer specialising in AI and machine learning applied to security; Level III Software Engineer with a focus on AI and machine learning and threat intelligence; and Senior Threat Intelligence Software Engineer.
The growth in staff in Malaga seems to contrast sharply with the recent trends in the technology sector, marked by job cuts in numerous companies justified (or excused) by the impact of AI.
Globally, giants like Meta and Amazon are laying off staff en masse to reallocate resources to AI. This trend has now reached Malaga with the recent workforce reduction plan (ERE) announced by Magnific (formerly Freepik) affecting more than 100 employees.
The key to GSEC continued growth in Malaga is the same one that led Google to keep VirusTotal in Malaga: productivity. Bernardo Quintero's team have always boasted one of the highest performance rates within the company. Now, the strategy is precisely to multiply that productivity with AI.
What's next?
Returning to the question of maximum capacity at GSEC Málaga, what happens now? Has Google reached its limit in the city or will it look for ways to continue growing? Can the headquarters be expanded or will it have to find offices elsewhere in the city?
Bernardo Quintero has said that "office space won't be the deciding factor" and that "there are many ways to expand".
"What matters most is our productivity as an engineering team and then there are always factors beyond our control… so our focus is on what we can control: multiplying our productivity with AI," he stated.
The founder of VirusTotal isn't worried about the limited physical space available, since he doesn't believe it will be a problem to find other spaces, whether temporary or permanent, when the time comes. He said that this is not the centre of discussions right now: "the key is whether Malaga is more productive".
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