BEIJING, Jan. 26 — Internet giant Google Inc. said it plans to hire at least 6,200 people this year in the company’s biggest expansion yet, according to media reports Wednesday.

The hiring plan was announced on Tuesday by Google’s senior vice president of engineering and research Alan Eustace in a blog post.

Google, which had 24,400 people at the end of 2010, hired more than 4,500 in 2010. The company once added 6,131 employees in 2007.

Analysts say Google are trying to fight off rivals like Facebook by this hiring spree to improve services such as mobile computing, display advertising and video.

Internet social network Facebook has been growing rapidly in recent years. Now about 200 of Facebook’s roughly 2,000 employees used to work at Google.

Google’s expansion was announced on the same day when Yahoo Inc. cut 100 to 150 workers, or about 1 percent, amid pressures from falling revenue.

One week ago, Google announced that its co-founder Larry Page will take over as the company’s CEO on April 4 this year.

Google earned 8.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, far more than its Internet peers. The company is expected to see another 22 percent increase in revenue this year. 

On Xinhua Web site: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2011-01/26/c_13707820.htm