The United Kingdom may have voted to leave the European Union, but Google apparently isn’t bothered by that decision. In fact, the company’s Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai has just announced that the Mountain View-based tech giant will be significantly expanding its London operations. While speaking at the new Google office at 6 Pancras Square in King’s Cross, London, Pichai revealed that 10-storey building which the company just opened will host 7,000 employees in the near future. For added context, the firm is currently employing approximately 4,000 employees in the country, so Google is planning to create 3,000 more jobs in the UK’s capital.
During his first visit to the UK since becoming Google’s CEO in 2015, Pichai asserted that the company is extremely excited to continue investing into its new King’s Cross campus. He revealed that the current plan is to create 3,000 more jobs in London by 2020, adding that the UK is still a great place for the tech industry. With that said, Pichai pointed out that unobstructed movement of skilled migrants is a crucial prerequisite for a healthy technological sector in any country, UK included. Unfortunately, neither Pichai nor any other Google’s representative present in London wanted to comment on the cost of the company’s latest expansion plans in the country.
In a short response to this set of announcements, Her Majesty’s Treasury (Britain’s finance ministry) described Google’s plans as a “big vote of confidence” regarding the country’s position as a global technological hub. Needless to say, there was no shortage of skeptics regarding the future of British economy following the so-called Brexit referendum in June. Many industry experts already went on record to state the in the two years required for finalizing the Brexit deal, the British economy and its tech sector, in particular, could be damaged substantially. These concerns were raised as people speculated that tech companies will want to continue enjoying the benefits of an open borders and the free trade union the EU offers and will consequently move their operations from the UK. While Google’s latest investment doesn’t dispel all of these worries, the fact that one of the largest tech companies on the planet is committing to the post-Brexit UK certainly will be seen as a good sign going forward.