New data centers, office expansions to fuel 12,000 new jobs, says CEO
Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Wednesday the company will invest $9.5 billion in office and data center expansions in the United States this coming year. Pichai said Google’s capital expansion will create at least 12,000 new full-time jobs by the end of the year.
Pichai framed Google’s growth as impactful to the economy as a whole.
“In the U.S., over the past five years, we’ve invested more than $37 billion in our offices and data centers in 26 states, creating over 40,000 full-time jobs. That’s in addition to the more than $40 billion in research and development we invested in the U.S. in 2020 and 2021,” he said.
In March, Google told employees it would transition from work from home back to a hybrid workweek. The move starts with Google’s Silicon Valley offices but will affect Google employees in offices throughout the United States, U.K. and Asia Pacific offices. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal shortly after that was announced, Pichai said that Google will remain flexible for remote work, but that some face-to-face interaction was important to help foster an agile and innovative work environment.
In announcing Google’s U.S. capital expansion plans this week, Pichai again acknowledged the new hybrid work reality. He said that Google’s making the investments to make life better for employees. The result, he said, will be better products and services for Google customers.
“It might seem counterintuitive to step up our investment in physical offices even as we embrace more flexibility in how we work. Yet we believe it’s more important than ever to invest in our campuses and that doing so will make for better products, a greater quality of life for our employees, and stronger communities,” he said.
New offices and data center expansions
So, what does $9.5 billion get Google these days? Pichai noted that Google is building out new offices in Georgia, Texas and Colorado, and recently opened offices in Portland. Existing offices and campus facilities in New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania will be improved.
Pichai said that Google will continue investments in data center operations across the U.S. including existing facilities in Midlothian, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma, Iowa, Oregon, and Nebraska. He added that the company’s new data center in Storey County, Nevada is now operational, but Google already has plans to expand that and its Henderson facility as well.
Pichai also used the opportunity to emphasize Google’s ongoing environmental commitments.
“And as we work towards running our offices and data centers on carbon-free energy 24/7 by 2030, we’re aiming to set new standards for green building design — including pursuing certification through the International Living Future Institute for buildings like our new office in Sunnyvale, California,” he said.
Pichai’s news coincided with the release of Google’s 2021 Economic Impact Report. The company claims responsibility for $617 billion in American economic activity last year – and that’s before counting Android.
“In addition, the Android app economy helped create nearly two million jobs last year, and YouTube’s creative ecosystem supported 394,000 jobs in 2020,” said Pichai.
