Google officially inaugurated its completed Campus Europaallee on June 27, further details of which can be found in a press release. Google had previously moved into the first parts of the campus when these were finished in 2019. However, the complex comprising several buildings is now fully complete.
The IT giant headquartered in California has been active in Zurich since as far back as 2004 and now employs around 5,000 people from more than 80 different countries in Switzerland. Some of these employees are also based at Google’s second Swiss location at the Hürlimann complex. Google has also drawn up plans to move into another 15,000 square meter office building on Müllerstrasse in Zurich in 2023. The company’s presence in Zurich already represents its largest development center outside of the USA.
Ignazio Cassis, President of the Swiss Confederation, was also in attendance at the opening of the new office complex. In a speech, he said: “I congratulate you on opening the Innovation Center for two reasons: Firstly, because you’ve actually done it and you attach such great importance to innovation. And secondly, because you’ve done it in Switzerland”. The fact that Google is investing in Zurich also reflects the city’s transition from a banking metropolis to a digital hub, Cassis explains.
Among other aspects, Google Switzerland is involved in the development of Internet services such as the search engine, Google Assistant, Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube. Zurich is currently the largest headquarters of the YouTube development team alongside the headquarters in San Bruno, California. In addition, Google Maps, for example, was essentially created in Switzerland, where Google also works with partners such as SBB and PubliBike to better map mobility services on Google Maps. By 2030, Google is planning to offer all of its services on a CO2-free basis, while Google itself has been CO2-neutral since 2007.
“We carry out high-quality work in Zurich, which is the main reason why this site has managed to record sustainable, organic growth. The framework conditions in Switzerland have been really great up to now”, comments Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President for Technical Infrastructure at Google, in the press release. For the future, Google has its sights set on growing further in Zurich.
