Google to take on 2,000 staff as it fights in new markets

The world's largest internet search engine, whose finance chief told investors in September that the web industry was waging a "war for talent", has job openings listed for 2,076 positions on its website.

The hiring spree is taking place alongside more than 20 acquisitions this year that helped swell Google's ranks to more than 23,300 employees at the end of September, up nearly 18% since the beginning of the year.

"We've been ramping up our hiring and the number of open jobs over the course of the last year," said Google spokesman Jordan Newman.

Google, which controls about two-thirds of the global web search market, is looking for opportunities to grow by branching out into markets including Android smartphone software, online display advertising and web-based productivity software.

It is trying to fend off social networking giant Facebook, which is challenging Google for online advertising and engineering talent, as well as Apple in the mobile market.

This month, Google internally announced plans to give all of its employees a 10% pay rise next year, a move that many in the industry interpreted as an attempt to retain its best workers.

Google's job openings are primarily for engineers and sales staffers, with roughly half in the US. Most appeared to be full-time positions. It lists more than 50 positions in China, a year after Google moved its search engine to Hong Kong following a censorship row with the Chinese government.