Google will commit $1 billion over the next five years to nonprofits in education and professional training through its charitable arm, Google.org.
CEO Sundar Pichai announced a new program at an event this week in Pittsburgh, PA, Grow with Google, aimed at training American workers for high-tech jobs and helping build businesses.
“At Google, our mission is to make sure that information serves everyone, not just a few,” Pichai explained in the address. “A child in a school here in Pittsburgh can access the same information on Google as a professor at Carnegie Mellon. In the end, the internet is a powerful equalizer, capable of propelling new ideas and people forward.”
Grow With Google will create an online destination for job seekers to get training and professional certificates and for businesses to improve their web services.
Google said it was donating $10 million to Goodwill Industries, for example, for digital job training programs. Company employees also will volunteer one million hours at those nonprofits.
CHARM OFFENSIVE ALONG WITH APPLE AND AMAZON
According to The New York Times, much like a political campaign, Google will go on the road to spread the message about its new program, it said. In the coming months, company officials will make stops in Indianapolis; Oklahoma City; Lansing, Mich.; and Savannah, Ga.
Google is not the only big tech company that has gone on a charm offensive in recent months. Under fire from President Trump for producing most of its devices in China, Apple announced in May that it was creating a $1 billion fund to invest in advanced manufacturing in the United States. Amazon, another frequent target of Mr. Trump, said in January that it was planning to hire 100,000 new employees over the next 18 months.
