Google bets on offices with $9.5 bn US investment; Sundar Pichai calls it ‘counterintuitive'

Google said it will invest $9.5 billion in offices and data centers in the U.S. over 2022, putting money behind its bid to get more workers back in its buildings.

The Alphabet Inc.-owned company based in Mountain View, California will spend on campuses across the country, and is expecting to create 12,000 new jobs as part of the investment, Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said in a statement Wednesday.

Tech companies have struggled to balance getting workers back to the office without causing unrest among their staff, who are often in high demand.

“It might seem counterintuitive to step up our investment in physical offices even as we embrace more flexibility in how we work,” Pichai said. “Yet 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.”

In March Google asked its employees in the San Francisco Bay Area to work in their offices three days a week starting this month, which has frustrated some employees who wanted to move outside of the pricey region.

Apple Inc. employees have recently pushed back on the company’s attempt to encourage staff to return to its multi-billion-dollar suite of global offices, including its estimated $5 billion main hub in Cupertino, California.

Apple employees are required back in the office at least once a week by April 11, twice a week by the end of the month, and on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays by May 23.

In March 2021, Google announced a $7 billion investment in the U.S. that planned to create at least 10,000 new jobs, a drop from the $10 billion it promised it would invest in 2020.