Google to invest $9.5 billion in the US on offices and data centres, to create 12,000 jobs

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said that his company will invest $9.5 billion (approx ₹72 crore) in new offices and data centres business in the US by the end of this year. Google is also expecting to create 12,000 new full-time jobs in the US and thousands of more jobs for its suppliers and partners, Pichai said in a blog post.  

The Alphabet company has set aside $1 billion for investment in affordable housing initiatives in the state of California. Google’s head office is also located in California, in the city of Mountain View which has a population of 82,000.  

Google’s announcement comes at a time when many organisations are shifting to a remote or hybrid work model and are moving from large office spaces to smaller locations. Big tech companies such as Google and Apple have started calling employees back to the office on alternate weekdays. 

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Pichai points out, that it seems counterintuitive to invest more in physical offices even as we move to a flexible work model. “We believe it is more important than ever to invest in our campuses and that doing so will make for better products, greater quality of life for employees, and stronger communities,” he added.  

Pichai cites recent research by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, which states that the creation of one new job at a company like Google generates four more jobs across the company’s local network.  

In addition to the investment plan, Google also released its Economic Impact report for 2021, which says that Google has contributed to the US economy by generating economic activity worth $617 billion for businesses, nonprofits, and creator communities. The report further claims that the Android app economy alone generated two million jobs in 2021, while YouTube supported 394,000 jobs in 2020.  

According to Pichai, Google has spent over $37 billion on its offices and data centres in the US and created over 40,000 full-time jobs. The company also spent over $40 billion in research and development in the US in 2020 and 2021.  

Investment into data centres is part of Google’s expansion plans in the cloud business. Pandemic has accelerated digital transformation forcing organisations to migrate workloads and applications to the cloud. According to Synergy Research, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google account for more than 50% of the world’s largest data centres.