CHICAGO, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Google plans to create "hundreds" of new jobs in Chicago this year by expanding its office in the third largest U.S. city.

The new jobs are a result of the U.S. tech giant's decision to expand its finance team, Chicago Tribune quoted Rob Biederman, head of government relations and public affairs for Google in the Midwest, as saying Friday.

Most of Google's finance team is currently located in the Bay Area.

In October, the company has leased about 132,000 square feet in a building in Chicago. The space, plus its 10-story headquarters in the city, will give Google the capacity to double its Chicago workforce by the end of the year, according to the report.

Google has been adding hardware designers and cloud engineers to its Chicago office in recent years. It first started building its engineering presence in Chicago in 2005, and engineers now account for about 25 percent of the Chicago office staff.

The U.S. company employs more than 1,000 people at its Chicago office at present.