Twitter launched its swanky new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore on Thursday as the microblogging site looks to scale up its presence in the region with more than 100 new jobs.
The company plans to add the jobs over the next few years - including data analytics professionals, product specialists and engineering and technology support – to more than double its headcount from 80 staff members currently.
"The Asia-Pacific region is already one of the largest and fastest growing regions for Twitter today, and there still is enormous potential to show people the value of our platform, from Japan to India to Australia," said Shailesh Rao, vice president for Asia Pacific at Twitter.
Twitter declined to give user numbers for the region but Japan, India and Indonesia boast the largest Twitter populations in Asia-Pacific, according to eMarketer's latest estimates of social network usage around the world. Monthly active users in the three countries are estimated to reach 26 million, 22.2 million, and 18.7 million, respectively, this year, eMarketer estimates. Twitter has a total of 302 million monthly active users globally.
While international revenue accounts for just 34 percent of the company's overall earnings, it is growing at a breakneck pace. International revenue totaled $147 million in the first quarter, an increase of 109 percent on year, the company reported in quarterly earnings report.
"We're capitalizing on this growth in 2015 by making strategic investments across the region – from opening new offices and aggressively hiring staff, to acquiring companies and building local product experiences ," Rao said.
The 22,000 square - foot office, located in Singapore's central business district, will serve a range a business functions, including sales, partnerships, marketing, human resources, finance, user services, legal, policy and trust and safety.
The design of the office embodies both the company's brand and Singapore's heritage, Twitter said, with birdhouses scattered throughout the premises and meeting rooms named after birds from across the region. Peranakan wall and floor tiles and nostalgic old-style doors and windows have been incorporated into the space.
The office also features a #RealTimeLab – a social media center to create, execute and share live Twitter campaigns, analytics and data visualizations with customers and partners.