Silicon Valley remains a bellwether for the Bay Area metro

Silicon Valley remains a bellwether for the Bay Area metro. Despite overall increases in vacancy market wide, Silicon Valley has fared better during this downturn despite being a tech heavy market. In fact, vacancy is still well below previous recessionary peaks.

Despite a slow return to office, the Silicon Valley also lead the Bay Area in office visitation based on year end 2022 mobility data. Occupiers who have suburban locations closer to where the workforce lives saw a greater return to office. Commute remains a deterrent for the Bay Area’s CBD locations.

San Francisco employees accounted for over a quarter of the 2022 layoffs in the Bay Area. As a result of weak financials, Bay Area tech workforce reductions between June and November of 2022 affected approximately 12,000 workers.  Much of that reduction was witnessed in San Francisco CBD resulting from a weak return to office and commute acting as a deterrent compared to the suburban markets of Silicon Valley and parts of the East Bay.