San Francisco workers are returning to offices, says mayor

San Francisco

SAN Francisco Mayor London Breed touted the return of employees to offices as evidence companies are invested in the technology hub, which has been hit hard by remote work.

Large companies are committing to bring staff back and are renewing office leases, Breed said in her state of the city address on Wednesday (Mar 9). She pointed to KKR & Co's purchase last year of an office complex for more than US$1 billion as evidence of long-term confidence in the area.

"When I put out the call to businesses about committing to bring workers back into the offices, so many answered," Breed said. "They are investing and they are returning. They want San Francisco to succeed."

Last week, Breed said that she drew commitments from companies such as Wells Fargo & Co and Uber Technologies Inc to have employees return in some capacity in March. The issue is a pressing one for the city, which is struggling with the nation's weakest office occupancies, stubbornly low transit ridership and one of the country's slowest recoveries of jobs lost during the pandemic.

The San Francisco metropolitan area had only about 28 per cent of office workers back at their desks as of March 2, the lowest share among 10 US cities, according to security company Kastle Systems. Many tech companies are embracing remote work or letting employees move elsewhere. San Francisco-based Lyft Inc, for instance, said on Wednesday that it will have a "fully flexible" policy about where employees work.

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Most of the 200 San Francisco-area companies surveyed by business group Bay Area Council said they expect their workers to come into the office 3 days or fewer a week, with those days most likely being Tuesday through Thursday, according to a poll released this week. This "new normal" mode of operations will be in place by June for about 67 per cent of respondents, while 82 per cent see it occurring by August or September.

"That is not a story about commerce fleeing this city; this is a story about confidence in what lies ahead," Breed said. "Will it be different than it was? Of course. That's the nature of cities. We endure and we adapt."

San Francisco - among the first US areas to impose Covid lockdowns 2 years ago - needs to move forward from the pandemic, Breed said. Earlier Wednesday, she announced that vaccine mandates will end for businesses such as indoor restaurants and gyms. The city lifted its indoor mask requirement last month. Breed also addressed improving safety and street conditions, stressing the need to build up police academy classes because staffing is at "crisis levels". BLOOMBERG