Zoom Video Communications said Thursday that it will hire 500 new software engineers in order to expand its research and development staff as the San Jose-based company has seen a massive increase in video usage during the coronavirus crisis.
Zoom said the expansion is in addition to new hiring it already had in the works. The company will set up new engineering centers in Phoenix and Pittsburgh, but the engineers will work remotely until the coronavirus abates. Most of Zoom’s software developers currently work in China and at the company’s San Jose headquarters.
Since shelter-in-place rules began going into effect in March, Zoom’s usage has surged as people have taken up video conferencing to keep in touch with family members, work remotely and conduct remote school lessons from home. Zoom recently said that it is now seeing more than 300 million daily users compared to about 10 million a day in December 2019.
But with the rapid rise in video use, Zoom has also dealt with new issues involving network and video privacy and security. The term “zoombombing” has emerged to describe when a person gains access to a Zoom meeting and then interrupts the proceedings with un-wanted videos or other material.Because of multiple reports of zoombombing occurring during events like school classes and local government meetings, Zoom stopped working on all new features, except those related to video security, for 90 days.
