Google to Invest $7 Billion in U.S. Offices and Data Centers

by Jo Youjin

Published 19 Mar.2021 10:29(KST)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Google announced that it will invest $7 billion (approximately 8 trillion KRW) this year to expand office and data center spaces across the United States.

According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, stated in a press release on the 18th (local time), "We plan to invest more than $7 billion in offices and data centers across the U.S. and create at least 10,000 new full-time jobs this year."

This investment commitment marks a complete reversal from the stance announced in April last year, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when hiring was delayed. CEO Pichai said, "Coming together face-to-face to build community is at the core of Google's culture and will be a key part of our future."

Google plans to allocate $1 billion, one-seventh of the total investment, to California, where its headquarters are located. Although this year's investment plan targets existing spaces, Google said it will establish new offices in three locations?Minnesota, Texas, and North Carolina?expanding its presence to 19 states.

Google also stated that it will hire thousands of employees at existing locations such as Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, and New York, expanding its footprint beyond California to across the United States.

Since 2018, Google has more than doubled its data centers in the U.S. and has been focusing on cloud business investments as part of a strategy to discover new growth engines beyond its main revenue source, online advertising.

WSJ reported that this announcement came amid discussions about the return of employees working remotely as COVID-19 new cases decline and vaccination efforts accelerate. Google's parent company, Alphabet, disclosed that as of the end of last year, it had a total of 135,000 employees worldwide.