Google isn’t just one of the largest tech companies in the Bay Area, it’s one of the world’s largest companies in general. But that’s not stopping it from getting even bigger.
On Thursday, Google announced its major U.S. expansion plans for the year of 2021. This involves investing more than $7 billion into its offices and data centers across 19 states. It’s also planning to create at least 10,000 new full-time Google jobs this year in the U.S. alone. Even for a company with over 135,000 employees, that’s an impressive number of full-time jobs to add in one year.
Part of this expansion includes growth in New York City, where it plans to grow its office presence. According to the announcement, Google is adding “thousands” of new roles across four U.S. cities: New York, Atlanta, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
In 2018, Google said it would double its New York workforce by 2028. The company will get closer to that goal in 2021, but in order to do that it’ll have to continue expanding its portfolio of office space. Google NYC is most known for its office building across the street from Chelsea Market — which it also owns — but the company is also in the process of building a newer campus in Hudson Square. This includes an office building at 550 Washington Street, which is getting closer to completion.
In the announcement, Google also detailed how it’s also investing in various social causes. Tech hub cities in the U.S. often have higher costs of living, which holds true for Google’s hometown of Mountain View in the SF Bay Area. For that reason, Google is committing $1 billion towards affordable housing initiatives in the Bay Area.
On top of housing equity, Google is also committed to racial equity within its company. Google says that 2020 was its biggest year for hiring Black and Latinx employees in the U.S. The company will also continue to give financial support to racial justice organization and Black-owned businesses.
Because of Google’s size, its hiring and overall business decisions have a significant economic impact for the country, and in the communities it’s part of. For example, Google’s services brought $426 billion of economic activity to over 2 million American businesses, according to Google’s new 2020 U.S. Economic Impact Report. Google hopes that its 10,000 new jobs will bring high-paying salaries to communities across the U.S., and help the country recover from a year of economic hardship.
