Six years after California’s shutdowns and fanatical masking policies hollowed out downtowns throughout the state, Governor Gavin Newsom is requiring state workers to come in to the office four days a week – and many of his allies are not happy about it.
The return-to-office mandate has been in effect since July 1st, and Newsom has been dismissive about the backlash it has generated. Unions representing state workers have maintained that their teams are just as productive working from home, a dubious claim masking the fact that people simply prefer remote work’s convenience.
In defending the shift back to in-office work, Newsom cited the need for worker collaboration, as well as the need to revitalize downtown small businesses that had suffered due to the culture of remote work in the state. He was dismissive of the ongoing protests, stating, “And all I’m asking for is, you get three-day weekends. You still do. You know, four years ago that would’ve been a triumph. Now, it’s some burden.”
Downtowns in cities such as San Francisco suffered massively due to the COVID-era shutdown and entrenchment of remote-work culture, and have been slowly recovering as companies have enacted in-office policies. Newsom’s sentiments on remote work are shared by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who blasted its effects on young workers and said, “You can’t learn working from your basement.” Elon Musk, meanwhile, once claimed that remote work was “morally wrong,” saying that white-collar workers were not permanently entitled to an option that blue-collar and service-sector workers lacked.
Sacramento, California’s capital city, showed some additional signs of life in the two weeks following Newsom’s mandate. The Downtown Sacramento Partnership reported a 12% increase in foot traffic, and some café owners in the area saw an uptick in customers.
Newsom and the Democratic Party have never expressed regret over the sheer scope and length of California’s COVID restrictions, which included two full shutdowns and a mask mandate that wasn’t permanently lifted until early 2022. Had the restrictions been lifted sooner, much of the damage to city downtowns could have been averted. Still, it’s encouraging that Newsom recognizes that remote work isn’t sustainable to cities’ health long-term. Perhaps his next executive order could target the remaining dead-enders in the state who insist on wearing masks – wishful thinking, but such a move would bring a full end to the state’s COVID madness.
