Having spiked to 281,462 in September, the number of new unemployment claims filed across the Bay Area dropped 17 percent to 232,908 in October but was still higher than in May, June, July or August and prior to two rounds of pandemic driven reopening rollbacks last month.

And in San Francisco proper, 31,931 residents filed a new/initial unemployment claim in October, which was down 22 percent from the 40,744 new claims in September but still higher than in May, June, July or August and 84 percent above the Great Recession-era peak of 17,311 in April of 2010.

13 thoughts on “Bay Area Unemployment Claims Dropped in October, But…”
  1. We are all going to back to work, and remote work will be heavily marginalized. This brief window in time will has provided greatest financial wealth opportunity of the passed 100 years. I personally picked up 2 more properties in SF, (and heavily invested in the stock market which has paid off handsomely)

    The large tech companies are all going back to work, in the office, with remote work heavily marginalized, or back to what it already was.. “satellite offices” in cheaper states.

    1. What? My job, which was 100% in-office pre-pandemic, is going to be about half telework / half office post-pandemic (it’s almost 100% telework now). And I don’t even work in tech, I work for federal govt. I can’t see remote work being “heavily marginalized” as you suggest.

    2. You are unfortunately missing the mark on this. This is a permanent shift in our world that is happening right now.

      1. That is incorrect. I’ve had major talks with major tech companies, and productivity is all down across the board. And, I’m talking people who have overseen trillions of dollars worth of companies. They’re all going back to work July 1 in the office. Or, did you miss the memo on the FAANG doing so? China is ahead of the game of us in the pandemic, and they’re ALL back to work. Yes, massive tech companies too – like Tencent. Facebook still leased 500k square feet in Manhattan.

        Federal government jobs don’t really count or impact the Bay area economy. And, no offense, they’re not premiere jobs.

        I think Bob, you’re missing the mark on this one – we had technology before hand to run companies in this fashion, and those that thought they can outsource mediocre team work, already did – those companies that work virtually NEVER produce excellent work. Have you seen any new products come out, in a timely fashion this year – nah. Companies need every edge they can, and that is always done better when the majority of the team is in the same location.

        Some more points: If you want to work fully remote – never expect to grow in your career into a management position. Facebook and other companies were clear on that. Good luck finding a new job if you’re Seaside California – sounds terrifying. And lastly, taxes and a reduced compensation for those moving out of state will drive migration back to the major cities. Do you really want to get paid less, live in a sub par city with no future prospects? Nah, might as well get paid more and live in the bay where the future is happening.

        1. You are trying so hard. I work in one of the “big tech” and our specific team has actually had it’s most productive quarter ever.

          We’re not babies. We get work done whether at home or office. We don’t require constant in person managerial supervision.

          And getting new jobs? You really haven’t been involved with the tech industry over the last 5 years? Most prepandemic interviews weren’t on site anyway.

          1. “We don’t require constant in person managerial supervision.”

            If you think that’s the issue, you haven’t been in a serious leadership role. I thought Tim Cook had the best take on it when he told investors that Apple had enough planned that it could execute remotely for a year, but they would need to return to the office to design the next thing.

  2. Managers railing about onsite productivity is so Yahoo 2015. Stop.

    The cat’s out of the bag. It will never go back fully to the way it was. You’ll see scaled down hubs where in person meets can happen, but large footprint offices are big albatrosses on the bottom line. Sorry.

    1. Exactly. The uber expensive office space will be reserved for top management. Worker bees will be more and more found in less expensive hubs. This is why the macro shift in how and where we work is especially problematic for SF. It will be harder to find tenants to pay exorbitant rents for office space in SF. Rents will fall but that too means building new office space in SF may not pencil. Given that SF has the highest construction costs of any city in the world. Oceanwide has halted construction with only the foundation completed. It may be less of a loss for the developer to pave over the foundation (surface parking lot?) than build out 1 million feet of space that could be vacant for years. The Natoma project was already well beyond foundation work and it will be built out. 600k feet that so far has no takers. There is a new dynamic and builders as well as bankers may no longer be willing to take the risk of constructing large office buildings in SF. At least for the mid-term until things settle out.

    2. Productivity is down across the board.

      If you think that’s wrong, go ask the venture capitalists that invested in of Google, Facebook, Apple, Netflix etc.all saying productivity is down across the board and they’re ALL going back? Yes, there was spike in the initial months – but that’s gone down dramatically. Why are their policies involving everyone go back to work on July 1st? (Us included)

      Sure, these(us) companies can weather the storm, and it won’t be quite the same, there will be some jobs outsourced (accounting, finance, HR etc.) but thinking that you’re going to make the next best apple or apple product with everyone WFH, is delusional. Team projects at the cusp of technology need every edge they can to work together. Nobody is going to build the next iphone with a 100% WFH team.

      1. our company has huge gains in productivity, but everyone is really burnt out because they are no longer separating work from home life, mainly because there is no home life. worried people will quit after they get vaccinated in order to take a few months off. everyone is clamoring to get back to the office, or to be done with work all together

      2. Google employees won’t be returning to the office until September and “CEO Sundar Pichai said the company will test the idea of a flexible workweek where employees would work at least three days a week in the office for collaboration and at home for the rest of the time.”

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