Dozens of Prineville, Ore., jobs are up in the air as Facebook changes security guards for its large data center.
Outgoing contractor Security Industries Specialists employs 85 guarding Facebook’s large data center above town. In a notice to Oregon employment officials dated Dec. 31, 2016, SIS notified the state it will lay off all of them at the end of January because it lost its contract with Facebook.
Facebook, in a statement, said it chose a company called G4S Secure Solutions to take over security at all its U.S. data centers. Facebook said it will encourage current SIS employees to apply and expects “many” will join G4S. Ultimately, though, Facebook said hiring decisions are up to its contractor.
Including security workers, Facebook has about 200 employees and contractors at its Prineville, Ore., data center, the first the company built anywhere. Facebook has steadily expanded, drawn by cheap electricity and property tax exemptions. Those tax breaks were worth nearly $12 million to Facebook in the 2015-16 fiscal year, according to the Crook County assessor.
