1st. Makes sense "Startups" didn't leave because well, they are startups and cash is tight.
2nd. They admit the increase in VC interest was extraordinarily high in Austin (66% increase in 2020) as opposed to Silicon Valley (4% increase in 2020).
Long Established businesses have upended their long term plans.
An Extraordinary number of headquarters are moving elsewhere.
Of those headquarterd in San Francisco, for example, if they come back I am being personally told they will come back at 10-25% of previous staffing.
But wait! There's more. They will also establish a rolling a work week of 3 days in, 2 days out and the following week will 2 days in, then 3 days out.
Just gotta go watch the YouTubes that show that San Francisco is largely abandoned now.
Which means that they will only need about 20% of existing square footage. And, because I know in math classes you need to show your work, if 25% are in the office, and then only half at a time, that's 12% of the existing workforce. So 12% = 20%. For those that don't see that, I'll give a more detailed explanation. Senior execs are going to want to keep C suite space and perks even if they are rarely in the office. So the C level guys will need large offices, and space for their "administrative assistants" (who may well have to be in the office full time even if they never see their bosses). So 8% of the existing square footage is required, whether needed or not.
Traffic is great around here since the work from home edicts were issued last year.. We zoom by Levi’s Stadium on game days .. no crowds at any entertainment venues locally .. but there is light at the end of the tunnel .. well, at least for downtown SJ where they now see new funding for the BART underground trains run.. sometime about the same time as the Hi-$pend Choochoo eXpress in the valley runs from Sodom to Gomorrah... uhh Sacramento and LA.
“... companies moving from Austin...”
Really?
nevertheless the firms are leaving Californication
some are doing it outright
some are simply moving their expansions to other, more favorable states
and
some are doing it quietly, by letting their workers move to other states (such as any of those without state income taxes) and work from home