Why do you think Return-to-Office is going so well in Texas compared to NYC, SF, etc?
I've seen in numerous articles recently that office occupancy in cities like Austin, Dallas, and Houston currently exceeds 50% (almost 60% in Austin), while office occupancy in cities like New York and San Francisco is still sitting around 30 to 35%.

Some people say it's because of long commutes in NYC and SF, but it's not like people in Austin, Dallas, and Houston have short commutes.
[{"id": "ifyrcxk", "text": "Company culture; worker and management attitudes.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ifz2uje", "text": "People were quick to relocate out of expensive cities like NY/SF and slower to move back compared to more affordable states like Texas. The income arbitrage is much higher (get paid NY salary while living in a cheaper state).", "replies": [{"id": "ifz6753", "text": "Tho cost of living in the bigger cities of Texas is insane.", "replies": [{"id": "ifz72d3", "text": "Still cheaper than those cities. And imagine you\u2019re getting that salary living in Austin or Dallas, you\u2019re even better off than your cohorts working there", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ifz6cfi", "text": "Conservative leadership.\n\nThe future is a remote, distributed workforce. Companies that don\u2019t adapt will be at a disadvantage.", "replies": [{"id": "ifzkf9l", "text": "bingo.", "replies": [{"id": "ig0dibu", "text": "I work for one of the largest companies in the country and I can tell you, you hit it right on the head. OP\u2019s statement of successful return to office has nothing to do with productivity. Texas has surpassed NYC in deaths, positive cases, and continues to do worse, but yet they are FORCING people back into the office.\n\nSomeone mentioned that they work for decision makers and they hate WFH because of productivity decline, but I refuse to believe that\u2019s the case, just sounds like outdated, power-trip, rhetoric", "replies": [{"id": "ig1gwjj", "text": "No one is forcing anyone to return to the office.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "igpqwed", "text": "Yes - they are clinging to the old world. It won\u2019t last for them.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ifzkm1r", "text": "&gt;going so well\n\nDefine. You measure \"well\" by office occupancy, but many of these places like Texas never had as strict covid protocols or such complete transitions to WFH. Firms in NYC, etc made the complete switch when the pandemic hit and discovered that job productivity was still better than ever. And people realized that the concept of a long daily commute is dog shit, and the flexibility of remote/hybrid is amazing for their individual and family health. Which is something, quite frankly, to which more liberal places are better attuned. For most white collar jobs, there's zero reason to be back in office 5x/week. There is surely something lost in terms of team building, problem solving, and firm culture in fully remote settings but there's not reason to be fully in-office either. This lesson had been internalized by a lot of firms and employees in NYC, for them \"doing well\" means having the flexibility to live a life and deal with non-work things that might happen on the clock and still be highly productive.", "replies": [{"id": "ifzlimo", "text": "I word directly with the decision makers of large companies.  By and large, they *hate* work from home and tell me that their workforce has a fraction of the productivity it had pre pandemic.\n\nThere are definitely benefits to WFH for employees, and there are exceptions to the above, but your statement about productivity is not true for the most part, at least from employers perspective.", "replies": [{"id": "ifzq1j4", "text": "tbh, what company execs think of WFH may not jibe with the reality of worker productivity and QOL. Not denying your experience in working with them, just pointing there's potential for mismatch between their perceptions (and their vested interest in having a full office) vs. what is happening. Anecdotally, at least in NYC, many people in my network kept parity or improved productivity in past couple years. Firms that are in denial end up losing their most talented people to competitors that offer hybrid/WFH.", "replies": [{"id": "ifzvwsq", "text": "yeah i think this guy is using one situation to justify the whole. I\u2019ve seen an immense amount of posts about top performers quitting jobs requiring in office work.", "replies": [{"id": "ifzz8s3", "text": "If you re-read my comment, you will see it is the opposite of what you are saying.  I am making general statements with caveats. \n\nAs stated in a different comment above, top employees at top firms are always the exception, not the rule. They will always have strong bargaining power.", "replies": [{"id": "ig01mui", "text": "gotcha", "replies": [], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}, {"id": "ifzyzrj", "text": "Most *employees* I speak with feel that they have never been more productive.  Most *employers* do not agree (especially looking at the whole of a workforce).  \n\nEmployees have been in the drivers seat for a while now, as there has been more demand for talent than supply.  There are early indicators that power dynamic is flipping, and most large companies have been working on their back to office strategy since close to the beginning (especially the tech cos despite all of their rhetoric to the contrary).\n\nTop employees at top firms are always the exception, not the rule.  They will always have strong bargaining power.\n\nI'm not advocating for anything here, just sharing my perspective.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}, {"id": "ifzt8e6", "text": "This sounds like execs that want everyone in the office and ignore contagion risks of people still recovering from Covid. And don't factor in higher sick days of people quarantining with Covid.\n\nI work for a small company that has had about 1 employee per month get Covid and still be able to work remotely if they don't feel sick. They wouldn't be able to do this for a company requiring in office only work and probably would have had more employees getting sick.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "ig1pi2s", "text": "I own a company that works directly with decision makers at businesses all over the country. I speak with the owners and leaders of those businesses daily. Every one of them is maintaining at least partial WFH since it's been so good for them as a whole. Employees are happier, work still gets done, retention is up... and everyone knows how tough it is to replace skilled employees these days.\n\nAnecdotal is anecdotal, I suppose.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ig3gake", "text": "As someone that is somewhat bias towards working in office I have found that people who prefer working from home are not as engaged with their job as someone who enjoys/prefers coming into the office. Productivity is not an easy metric to measure. I\u2019m not sure how working from home, with distractions from family or housework, is more productive than going to a specific location dedicated to accomplishing tasks. The permissibility of WFH is directly tied to the current state of our labor market and likely to change once we experience a true recession. If you\u2019re working in a market where you\u2019re commuting 1.5+ hours to work, you should seek other job opportunities closer to home. The majority of America isn\u2019t NYC Chicago or LA with long commute times.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ifzmgb2", "text": "Who wants to go to an office? Young people who are starting out in the business and network. I think people with kids is like 50/50. If you don\u2019t have childcare it makes sense to stay home but sometimes you just want to get out of the house and deal with grownups, the office is like a vacation from your home. \n\nWho doesn\u2019t want to go to an office? People who hate the commute and are over it. \n\nMedian age in Texas: 34.8\n\nMedian age in California: 36.7\n\nMedian age in New York 36.9\n\nThe flexible young people live in Texas, their boss is probs young and looking to impress. \n\nThe dudes whose name is on the building? He is probably at his ranch, he is over it, but his vps trying to replace him are in the office.", "replies": [{"id": "ig090ke", "text": "Two years is the difference between young and old.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ig1i5tz", "text": "Young people are the demographic that want to go  to an office the least. It\u2019s the stubborn older generation that feels an office presence is needed for a successful business. The tech friendly kids have no want or need to ever step foot in an office", "replies": [{"id": "ig1pn62", "text": "Yeah, but they will do what they are told more than older workers. They will do the grind while I will not, this is why I employ them. The hippest coolest companies are still willing to take space. The commodity office space is unsexy and those people will work from home. \n\nYour professional trajectory is disproportionately, and unfairly, set by the early years of your career,\u201d explains Galloway. \u201cSo, if you want balance later in life, you shouldn\u2019t be seeking balance in your twenties \u2013 but influence, relevance and economic security.\u201d \n\nhttps://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220701-does-grinding-hard-now-earn-work-life-balance-later", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ifzpad4", "text": "Being a Texan (San Antonio) everyone here was just waiting for Covid guidelines to lessen, a lot of people hated the idea of wearing masks and not being able to be social, as soon as things started to feel a bit more relaxed masks were gone for the majority of people and public places started to fill up again. I traveled to the Oregon Coast in 2020 by comparison people on hiking trails literally turned their heads to the side when you walked past them as to avoid spread and I had a guy call me out at the Japanese Garden in Portland for being too close and a few steps beyond the 6ft appointed spots in line at the ticket counter. Texas was much much more relaxed I never once crossed someone on the street and they turned their head to avoid me or was called out for being not in the right spot. Also throughout the entire pandemic I knew several people who would take their masks off any chance they got and people who still held get togethers etc. All of these differences in my opinion is what made going back into the office an easier transition for most Texans", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ig0yoza", "text": "I think commute &amp; safety plays a big roll from what I am reading. Not worth it to travel 2 hours a day to get to your desk. \nAt the same time, it depends on the job in my opinion in regard to productivity. Some professions productivity is very easy to track for their companies. They will be more flexible with those employees. Harder to track productivity will probably have a harder time to get approved for remote work.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ig1h7m8", "text": "Cultural differences most likely. Texas ppl don't give a crap about covid. New Yorkers do.   \n\n\nI am in VA so culturally more of a mixed bag. Like in Target 80% of shoppers were wearing masks, and in Lowes it was 5%.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ig1w9o0", "text": "Everyone bailed out of NYC and SF as soon as they could.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ig22drl", "text": "Taxes.  I can work at my NYC job remotely in Florida where the state tax is 0, instead of 14% plus.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ig3ev39", "text": "AZ Broker here.\n\nOur office requirements are typically smaller than the NYC, SF, CHI on average and have shorter lease term (4.2 WALT is the last I have seen). With the the smaller requirements you get more decision makers, and typically the decision makers are in the office. With the shorter lease terms firms are better able to right size faster.  \n\nThe typical office requirement I am seeing in the market is between 2000 - 5000 SF with a max term of 3-5 years. The spaces that are moving are spec suites or move-in ready suites. There are very limited quality subleases available in the smaller size ranges. Functionally obsolete spaces are sitting. \n\nLooking at the subleases that are staying on the market it is the big call center spaces. Think 100,000 SF+\n\nFirms overall at least in this market are adopting a hybrid approach to compete for labor as the multitude of SF based tech firms with satellite offices have influenced to a degree the WFH and Hybrid schedules.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]