Alphabet Inc’s Google is planning to invest over $7 billion in offices and data centers in the United States this year, Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said on Thursday.

Google’s spending includes $1 billion in its home state of California.

This decision comes at a time when many companies are exiting Silicon Valley after the COVID-19 pandemic, and shifting to remote work, making companies reconsider the state’s higher operational costs and hefty taxes.

The investments would create at least 10,000 new full-time Google jobs, Pichai said.