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Entrance to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View,near San Jose. The internet behemoth wants its workers back in the office.Credit:David Paul Morris

“Coming together in person to collaborate and build community is core to Google’s culture,and it will be an important part of our future,”Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said in a blog post on Thursday. Last year,Pichai outlined a hybrid approach,where workers could work from home sometimes but come into the office regularly for in-person meetings.

Google has long been a pioneer in office design and culture. The wacky colours,whimsical design and free meals it became famous for in its early years have been replicated by start-ups and big companies alike. In recent years,the company has commissioned sleek,modern buildings by world-famous architects.

Other major companies have begun outlining their post-pandemic work plans.Ford Motor Co. said on Wednesday it would let 30,000 North American employees work from home permanently,while other workers would move to a hybrid model,not unlike Google’s planned system.

Google also said it would hire 10,000 new full-time employees in the US this year. At least 1000 of those workers will be in Chicago,Atlanta,Washington,DC and New York - cities with higher populations of black employees - as Google tries to increase the diversity of its workforce,according to the blog post.

The company has been aggressively expanding its footprint outside of California for several years. Even before the pandemic,the company built offices in Seattle,New York and Boston to tap into high-tech workforces outside of California. The sprawling data centres that host the company’s services and fuel the rise of its fast-growing cloud business now dot the country,from Nevada to Georgia.

Paying taxes and employing workers in many places around the country also has the added benefit of increasing Google’s political influence. That’s especially important as politicians scrutinise the company for its competitive behaviour and how it moderates the content that shows up on its websites.

State officials are suing the company for using its position in the digital advertising market to freeze out competitors. Federally,the US government claims deals that Google has struck with companies like Apple to make its search engine the default for most Americans are illegal. Conservative politicians want to cut back Google’s ability to police its platforms like YouTube,while liberals want it take a heavier hand in banning racism and harassment.

The $US7 billion investment is down slightly what Google has spent in recent years. The company won’t say exactly how much it invested in 2020 beyond confirming its spent $US30 billion in the last three years. Given spending of $US9 billion in 2018 and $US13 billion in 2019,that total suggests Google invested less than the $US10 billion it had originally planned to spend before the pandemic hit.

The Washington Post