Google To Invest $9.5b In US Offices, Datacenters

Google is betting big on the future of the office with $9.5 billion in investments planned for such facilities in 2022. 

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said as much in a blog post, adding that Google plans to invest in new and existing datacenters as well as offices in the coming year. Pichai said that Google expects to create 12,000 new full-time Google jobs by the end of 2022. Over the past five years, Google said it has invested $37 billion in 26 US states, creating over 40,000 full-time jobs. 

Google made the call to wind down pandemic-related remote work for its employees in March when it announced it wanted people back on site at least three days a week beginning in early April. Pichai said physical office investment may seem counterintuitive in the current environment, but he restated Google's position that remote work isn't the future. 

"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," Pichai said. 

Google's economic impact report was released the same day as Pichai's blog, and he took the opportunity to share that Google provided $617 billion in economic activity for US businesses, while Android apps created two million jobs, and its video platform YouTube supported 394,000 jobs in 2020. 

Where to expect Google growth

Pichai had a sizeable list of office and datacenter plans for 2022 to discuss, including the following:

• A new Atlanta office
• Additional investments in its data center in Douglas County, Georgia
• A new Austin, TX office
• Additional investments in its Midlothian, TX data center
• Continued data center investment in Tennessee
• Continued data center investment in Virginia 
• Continued data center investment in Oklahoma
• Continued data center investment in Iowa
• Continued data center investment in Nebraska
• New investments in New York offices
• Improvements to Cambridge and Pittsburgh campuses
• Continued construction at the Boulder, CO Google campus
• A new office in Portland, OR
• Continued data center investment in The Dalles, OR
• New investments in Kirkland, WA campus
• New investments in Seattle campus
• A new datacenter in Storey County, Nevada stood up recently, and Google plans to expand it
• Continued investment in Google's Henderson, Nevada facility

Google also said it plans to expand its presence in the Bay Area, including further investment in its affordable housing commitment, the conditions for which - it could be argued - Google helped create. ®