Google will invest $ 7 billion in the post-pandemic office bet

Google says it’s doubling down on the desktop.

The Alphabet Inc. GOOG,
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The unit said it will spend $ 7 billion this year to expand its U.S. office and data center footprint, including pouring $ 1 billion into its home state of California. The search engine giant said it will hire at least 10,000 new full-time employees during the year, awaiting a post-pandemic recovery in the US

The spending commitment follows a slowdown in investment by Google about a year ago, as the magnitude of the Covid-19 crisis began to take shape. Last April, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in a note that Google will slow down the pandemic.

Like other large technology companies, Google has flourished in the last year, benefiting from an accelerated shift in online advertising spending. Despite this increase, US investment planned for 2021 is lower than pre-pandemic levels; has invested an annual average of $ 11 billion in 2018 and 2019.

An extended version of this article appears on WSJ.com

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