Google came to Chicago 22 years ago and opened a small Midwest sales office with two employees. Now the company has close to 2,000 Chicago workers, and it hired hundreds last year.
Google added 500 Chicago employees in 2021, the company said in a blog post this week. It now employs more than 1,800 across its two buildings in Fulton Market.
In addition to its sales teams, Google employs people across its engineering, search, ads, finance and Cloud projects.
After opening its first Fulton Market building at 320 N. Morgan St., its second space 210 N. Carpenter St., houses its Cloud team. The Carpenter St. office officially opened in 2019.
Google is also reportedly eyeing additional space in the West Loop neighborhood, as its in talks to lease 200,000 square feet at 400 N. Aberdeen St., according to reports.
Last year Google announced plans to invest $25 million in the state of Illinois, including improvements to its two Chicago offices.
Last month Google officially brought its employees back to the office three days a week. The hybrid schedule comes as Google has yet to announce plans for a full, five days a week return to the office, according to Block Club Chicago.
Google's Chicago growth comes as fellow Silicon Valley tech giant Facebook celebrates its 15-year Chicago anniversary this month. It has 500 local employees at its new Loop office, which officially opened last August. Like Google, Facebook's first Chicago office was a small sales outpost with fewer than 10 employees
Google is currently hiring for more than 500 jobs in Chicago, according to its career page.
