Episode Details

San Jose’s downtown is buzzing at night thanks to World Cup crowds, but daytime streets remain eerily quiet — a stark contrast that reveals a deeper problem: the missing workforce. Remote work, embraced by both private and public sectors, has slashed daily foot traffic, leaving businesses struggling during daylight hours. Despite the governor’s 2021 call to end pandemic-era work-from-home mandates, many San Jose city employees still aren’t required to return full-time — a leadership gap that’s crippling downtown’s daytime economy. With nearly a quarter of Bay Area office space vacant and San Jose among the worst, the region lags far behind cities like New York and Miami in getting people back to their desks. When employees can work remotely indefinitely — especially on key days — there’s little incentive to commute or live downtown, threatening the survival of local shops, restaurants, and housing. The question remains: are companies truly maximizing efficiency — or just letting remote work become the new normal?

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