Google will spend $7 billion and add 10,000+ jobs in 2021: Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat

Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat joins 'Influencers with Andy Serwer' to discuss Google's massive $7 billion investment in U.S. offices and new jobs.

Video Transcript

ANDY SERWER: Let's talk about some things going on at the company this week. You've made plans to make major investments this year. What are those, Ruth?

RUTH PORAT: So we are excited to be talking about this. We've announced that we're investing aggressively in the US. In 2021, we'll be investing over $7 billion in offices and data centers across the US. And we are committed to creating at least 10,000 new full-time jobs for Googlers in the US.

And importantly, what we're doing is we're both building on our existing major centers, as well as expanding across the US. In fact, this covers investments across 19 states. So as an example, in California, we'll be investing over a billion dollars this year. In New York, we're really excited that we're continuing to build out our campus presence. And what that's going to enable us to do is double our workforce in New York by 2028.

But as I said, we're also investing across the United States. So as an example, in Mississippi, we're opening our first Google operations center. In North Carolina, we're opening a new Google Cloud engineering site. And what we're excited about is we're not only increasing the number of jobs across the US, but in particular, we're bringing more jobs and investment to diverse communities across the US. And this is all, you know, very consistent with our announcements last year on racial equity and our commitments to racial equity.

So, for example, we're growing our presence in Atlanta, in Chicago, in New York. I've already mentioned in Washington, DC, where we see tremendous diverse communities. And we're excited about what we're able to do with hiring, with investing in the community, with job creation as we're building.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, I wanted to ask about that diversity point, Ruth, that you just mentioned, because I know Sundar Pichai has talked about that, your CEO. And where would you assess-- how would you assess where the company is right now in terms of diversity, and how far still does it have to go?

RUTH PORAT: We're intensely focused on doing what we can internally and also supporting efforts externally. And I would say that, like for so many, the world is not where we'd like to see it, and there's quite a bit of work to be done. And we're continuing to ensure that we're putting all the elements in place so that we can steadily grow a work force that reflects the world around us.

And that's in everything from recruiting and promotion to all of the efforts that we do to support people throughout their careers. So, you know, it's a journey, and one that is of the highest priority for us. And-- and we're continuing to work at it.

ANDY SERWER: Getting back to the $7 billion investment in the United States, you're the CFO, so it must have made sense to you, or it sounds like it did, that, you'd make that investment in the United States versus sending those jobs overseas.

RUTH PORAT: So we are growing around the globe. And I think that, you know, if-- we're a global company. Our mission is to make sure that we're giving people around the globe quality information, the ability to have access to information that is accessible and useful. We're really proud of the fact that as an example, if you're a developer in a small town in India, you have the same access to customers as if you're sitting here in New York City. And so we definitely are continuing to grow globally.

I would underscore that we're very proud of the ongoing growth that we have here in the US. 7 billion investments, 10,000 jobs just continues to build on the strength that we have here.