Google says it is doubling up in the office.
The Alphabet Inc GOOG,
The unit said it would spend $ 7 billion this year on expanding its presence in offices and data centers in the United States, including $ 1 billion in its home state of California. The search engine giant said it would hire at least 10,000 new full-time employees throughout the year in anticipation of a post-pandemic recovery in the U.S.
The spending commitment follows a slowdown in Google investments about a year ago, when the magnitude of the Covid-19 crisis was beginning to take shape. Last April, Alphabet and Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, told the team in a memo that Google would delay hiring amid the pandemic.
Like other big tech companies, Google flourished last year, benefiting from an accelerated shift in online advertising spending. Despite this growth, its investment in the US planned for 2021 is less than pre-pandemic levels; invested an annual average of $ 11 billion in 2018-2019.
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