Employees are back, bosses say. In California? Not so much

"Even as bosses across the country report a jump in the number of people returning to the office, attendance in California remains less than half of what it used to be. A recent survey shows that managers' push to get workers back in the office is bearing fruit, but executives would still like to see people at their desks more often. A different dataset demonstrates that much of the lag is due to California."

"Companies are stepping up enforcement of their attendance policies even as many workers try to avoid the daily routine of commuting and clocking in, real estate brokerage CBRE found in a national survey of office tenants. Companies made "significant" progress in the last year in moving toward their office-attendance goals and enforcing their attendance policies, moving closer to cementing their long-term work guidelines than at any time since the COVID-19 pandemic, CBRE said."

"The Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas still have some of the lowest office attendance in the country, according to the latest data from Kastle Systems, which provides key-card entry systems used by many companies and tracks patterns of workers' card swipes. Business in the regions is dominated by the entertainment and tech companies, which can often be more freewheeling because much of the work is done alone and on computers that could be located anywhere."

Companies increased enforcement of attendance policies while many workers avoid commuting and daily clock-ins. A national CBRE survey of office tenants found 72% of companies met attendance goals, up from 61% the previous year. CBRE described "significant" progress toward establishing a new baseline for hybrid work after five years. Kastle Systems key-card data show Los Angeles and San Francisco metros have some of the lowest office visits in the country. Entertainment and tech dominance and remote-capable computer-based work contribute to lower attendance. Los Angeles employers often allow more flexibility partly because commutes can be lengthy.

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