San Francisco is finally turning the corner on its stay-at-home work policies, with more and more people returning to offices. 

The city’s return-to-office directive from Democratic Mayor Daniel Lurie was supposed to kick in on April 28. However, it was pushed back to August after Lurie, a first-time mayor, made a deal with two major unions and city officials that allowed for more flexibility for workers.

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The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 21 and Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which collectively represent some 24,000 workers, said their members will be subject to the mayor’s order starting Aug. 18.  The employees include engineers, healthcare, and clerical workers.

Lurie tried to get people in the office sooner to bolster city services, local businesses, and revitalize San Francisco’s lagging economy, especially in its downtown area.

Already, there have been some signs of progress.

“When it’s 5 o’clock here, we like to have fun,” engineer Joseph Camajini and his colleagues told ABC7. “We’re in the office at least three days a week. We’re looking to up that to four to support the community and be part of the downtown scene.”

Brandon Boyle noted a very different “vibe” shift.

“You can tell a big difference from a year ago,” Boyle said. “There’s a good energy and vibe in downtown SF.”

According to new cellphone data released from location tracking firm Placer.ai, San Francisco’s return-to-office rate jumped ahead of Los Angeles and Denver in July for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. San Francisco office visits were down 34.2% in July compared to 2019, slightly ahead of Los Angeles’s 34.6% and Denver’s 40% declines in the same period, data released this week showed.

San Francisco is still near the bottom for return to work and well below nationwide statistics, which were 21.8% below 2019 levels in July.

“It’s obviously a far cry from pre-pandemic,” R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research at Placer.ai, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Jeff Bellisario, executive director of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, admitted it was “not a huge bump” but said “it’s continued progress.” 

San Francisco saw a big population drop of 6.3% during the first year of the pandemic, according to census data. The city has finally started to see modest growth again, and events like First Thursday and Unstaged street parties are helping draw office workers and visitors back.

The progress comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) office pushed back on a California auditor report released Tuesday that said keeping state workers remote for three days per week would save the state $225 million a year in real estate costs. 

Auditor Grant Parks found the state could cut its office space by around 30% across seven large buildings that total 5.5 million square feet. The buildings include 455 Golden Gate Ave. in San Francisco, 1515 Clay St. in Oakland, one building in Los Angeles, and four buildings in Sacramento.

Parks said the savings wouldn’t be possible under Newsom’s March order, which calls on state workers to return to the office for four days per week because each worker would require a dedicated workstation. 

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Newsom spokeswoman Tara Gallegos slammed the audit as “not a scientific study” and said it did not “paint a complete picture of the state workforce or the benefits of working in person.” 

“While we appreciate the auditor’s time in collecting this information, we respectfully disagree with the auditor’s findings, which are based on estimates and, as noted throughout the audit, hypothetical theories and incomplete information,” Gallegos added. “While the auditor found potential cost savings, these calculations are based on estimates and require a set of assumptions that are unlikely to occur. We will take the audit’s recommendations into consideration, but the budget savings identified should be treated as hypothetical and incomplete.”