San Francisco’s Post-COVID Catastrophe
Whilst the Golden Gate bridge stands shiny on the coast of San Francisco’s rocky tech-driven landscape, streets within the West Coast city have been oddly bare following the impact of COVID-19.
In 2019, San Francisco’s market for office spaces was one of the biggest and most expensive commercial real estate markets in the US, where average monthly rent prices for office spaces rivalled and reckoned with global metropolitan cities. Known for its infamous Silicon Valley, which is home to the world’s largest tech-companies, San Francisco was a bustling hub for tech start-ups, venture capitalists, and tech-bros sporting a barely wind-proof patagonia fleece.
Apple’s $1 billion campus, spanning 133 acres was a new investment for tech’s predicted growth in 2020, with Amazon and Meta (Facebook) likewise expanding their physical premises in hopes of glorifying the supposed “work-life balance” offered through working in Big Tech.
Yet, following the global pandemic, workers located in these up-market office spaces moved online, communicating and hosting meetings via Microsoft Teams and Zoom, rather than flooding local cafes and restaurants. Employees of large-tech firms have relocated within the past 2 years, finding sanctuary in remote working and its offer of relocating to more affordable states in the US. Thus, workers flocked from $7 cold brews and $1.5 million 50 sq feet condos to locations with no state income tax in Texas, or beachside with a labrador. Residential rent percentage in the Bay Area has decreased 27% between 2020 and 2021, with office vacancy rates drastically jumping to 16.7%.
Many institutions initially denied workers the satisfaction of remote working, where Elon Musk dystopically informed his employees of his authoritarian ultimatum, to “work 40 hours a week in office, or leave the company”. On the other hand, other names in big tech such as Atlassian have embraced the benefits of employee satisfaction, offering remote-work year round.
Yet, San Francisco’s Landscape has paid the price.
Walking through streets of the Bay Area, you’ll find eroding artefacts of Big-Tech’s prior existence. In a 15 minute stroll you’ll see boarded-up restaurants, and retail spaces for lease. Large companies have abandoned store-fronts and franchises, with small businesses unable to exist in a remote-economy. The US Government will eventually have to consider the long-term impacts of the decaying relics of their former tech-powerhouse, and face the spiral that presents:
If workers leave, then so will businesses. And thus businesses leave, and more workers too.
Whilst the Golden Gate bridge stands shiny on the coast of San Francisco’s rocky tech-driven landscape, streets within the West Coast city have been oddly bare following the impact of COVID-19.
In 2019, San Francisco’s market for office spaces was one of the biggest and most expensive commercial real estate markets in the US, where average monthly rent prices for office spaces rivalled and reckoned with global metropolitan cities. Known for its infamous Silicon Valley, which is home to the world’s largest tech-companies, San Francisco was a bustling hub for tech start-ups, venture capitalists, and tech-bros sporting a barely wind-proof patagonia fleece.
Apple’s $1 billion campus, spanning 133 acres was a new investment for tech’s predicted growth in 2020, with Amazon and Meta (Facebook) likewise expanding their physical premises in hopes of glorifying the supposed “work-life balance” offered through working in Big Tech.
Yet, following the global pandemic, workers located in these up-market office spaces moved online, communicating and hosting meetings via Microsoft Teams and Zoom, rather than flooding local cafes and restaurants. Employees of large-tech firms have relocated within the past 2 years, finding sanctuary in remote working and its offer of relocating to more affordable states in the US. Thus, workers flocked from $7 cold brews and $1.5 million 50 sq feet condos to locations with no state income tax in Texas, or beachside with a labrador. Residential rent percentage in the Bay Area has decreased 27% between 2020 and 2021, with office vacancy rates drastically jumping to 16.7%.
Many institutions initially denied workers the satisfaction of remote working, where Elon Musk dystopically informed his employees of his authoritarian ultimatum, to “work 40 hours a week in office, or leave the company”. On the other hand, other names in big tech such as Atlassian have embraced the benefits of employee satisfaction, offering remote-work year round.
Yet, San Francisco’s Landscape has paid the price.
Walking through streets of the Bay Area, you’ll find eroding artefacts of Big-Tech’s prior existence. In a 15 minute stroll you’ll see boarded-up restaurants, and retail spaces for lease. Large companies have abandoned store-fronts and franchises, with small businesses unable to exist in a remote-economy. The US Government will eventually have to consider the long-term impacts of the decaying relics of their former tech-powerhouse, and face the spiral that presents:
If workers leave, then so will businesses. And thus businesses leave, and more workers too.
