SAN JOSE, California — Caroline Mills now goes into her San Jose office at accounting giant Ernst & Young whenever her team agrees they want to — and sometimes when the company puts on the Wednesday happy hour featuring beer, wine and Asian-fusion food-truck treats. That weekly grub-and-gab session did not exist before the pandemic, nor was a fund to pay for dog-sitting, or company-paid parking. Office attendance, for audit staffer Mills, was also not “very optional,” as it is today.
“They’re definitely trying to keep us happy,” said Mills, 25, of Mountain View, “and keep employing us.”
Despite a recent swell in coronavirus infections, a strong majority of Bay Area employers say they have started refilling offices. And half say they have arrived at their target mix of remote and office-based employment, suggesting the region is approaching a “new normal” of hybrid workplaces, according to the Bay Area Council, which represents hundreds of employers, including Silicon Valley technology giants.
