Twitter has already told its employees that they need never return to the office. Facebook wants half of its people to work from home in 10 years. COVID-19 has accelerated remote employment in Silicon Valley, which, in turn, threatens the very existence of the technology cluster.

Until just a few months ago - before the pandemic - having an office in San Francisco, San José or one of the neighboring towns was almost a requirement for any American technology company and even from other countries, since it demonstrated status and opened doors both talented as financiers.

INCREASED ACCESS TO TALENT

Precisely the geographical concentration of qualified personnel, investors and other professionals specialized in technology such as lawyers or publicists was one of the main claims of the technology cluster, an argument that COVID-19 has questioned.

"Until now, if you were a highly trained programmer but your partner had a good job in Chicago and you did not want to move to Silicon Valley, you had the doors of Facebook practically closed," explains Rob Ekinson, founder and president of the think center. specialized in science and technology policies Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).

Atkinson has spent years advocating for a broader geographic distribution of the US tech industry. outside of traditional centers like Silicon Valley, Seattle and Boston, and he sees the trend towards remote work as an opportunity to advance in this regard.

"We know that there is technological talent outside these hubs and the emplo

or remote will open many doors that until now remained closed, "says the researcher.

LOWER COSTS

Allowing their employees to work from home permanently would not only allow technology firms access to talent outside of Silicon Valley, but would also allow them to cut costs on both staff (more competition between candidates and cost-of-living adjustments in each region) as in real estate.

Apple has just spent $ 5 billion on its new Cupertino headquarters; Google, $ 2.4 billion at its offices in downtown New York; and Salesforce has rented the tallest tower in San Francisco.

Being able to do without all these spaces or, at least, considerably reduce their dimensions to house only essential operations would mean billions of savings every year for companies, especially when Silicon Valley is one of the areas with the most expensive square meter in the entire US. .

The big question about working from home and what made Facebook reluctant to allow it among its employees until recently is its effect on productivity and creativity, two essential aspects for the operation of a technology company.

A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

"Sometimes it is a little more difficult to stay focused, but at the same time that is more acceptable because you are allowed to work outside of normal hours," explains Efe Brice, graphic designer at one of the largest technology firms based in San José, whose name asks that it not be published due to the strict policy that technology companies have to prevent their employees from speaking to the press.

Brice, who has been working from home for about three months, admits that it is "much more difficult" to hold online meetings with a large number of participants, but still assures that the experience is being "better than I thought" and that it is not would you mind "continuing to work from home for a long time".

At the moment, Brice's company maintains remote work for virtually all of its tens of thousands of employees until Oct. 2, though the designer admitted he wouldn't be surprised if he ended up following in the footsteps of Twitter, Square, or Facebook and definitely move towards a remote model.

If the trend picks up and other companies make similar decisions in the coming months, Silicon Valley could change forever, and with it the concentration of business and talent, but also exorbitant house prices, heavy traffic and gentrification.

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