This morning, Google CEO Sundar Pichai made a big announcement. After our two years of organizing and dozens of town halls, reports, actions, and marches, Google said it plans to invest $1 billion for housing across the Bay Area.
This is a big win that shifts the norms around tech’s responsibility. The tech giant is listening to the thousands of community members and tech service workers who have organized to demand tech corporations address their impacts on our community. Google is recognizing its role in our housing crisis and that it must help solve it.
Today’s win shows that when we stand up together — when we go all in for all of us — we can inspire a new standard for tech development. Thank you to everyone who has stepped up in the past two years, this would not have happened without you.
We know there’s much more Google and the City of San José must do to develop without displacement. Our research shows that Google needs to create over 5,000 affordable homes in San José alone, so it needs to take additional steps both regionally and in San José. We will keep organizing to make sure Google focuses on those most in need, fully addresses its impacts, and takes public and community input into account.
From the start, this campaign has been about setting a new direction for tech growth, one that creates widespread opportunity instead of more rent hikes, overcrowding, homelessness, and super-commutes. We’re far from done — and we’ll need you to keep stepping up in the weeks and months to come — but Google’s acknowledgement that it has a responsibility to do better is a major step forward.
Together, we can make sure that no matter what we look like or how we make a living, we all have the freedom to stay and thrive in our communities.
