Moving Back To California

What did Tesla just do? They moved back into the state of California. Disney's moving their jobs back from Florida to the state of California. It's at the point now where some staffers are ready to quit their jobs over the matter. Many tech companies have started urging employees to come back to the office.

What's up, guys? It's Graham here. So, a few years ago, I decided to leave California for Las Vegas. At the time, crime was skyrocketing, work from home was gaining in popularity, and people didn't need to be so concentrated within the city. So, we backed up and left. But now I'm not so sure, because, as it turns out, quite a lot of people are beginning to move back.

That's right! A recent U.S. sentiment estimate showed that more than 125,000 new residents came to California last year. Even cities like San Francisco were beginning to see their residents move back in, with companies like Tesla voluntarily deciding to return to a state that they left just a few years prior. So let's discuss exactly why so many companies want their employees to return to the office, whether or not this could be the end of work from home, why California is seeing an influx of people, and whether or not I'm considering to move back. On this episode of I Really Hope This Happens!

Although, before we go into all the details, I know it sounds silly, but if you would do me a favor and hit the like button, it helps out a ton. I've done some research on this lately, and it does seem like the more people that hit the like button, the more the video gets recommended to a brand new audience who can also hit the like button. So thank you so much for doing that, and now let's begin.

Alright, so to start, it's easy to see why most people want to work from home, because number one, they feel more productive. In fact, several studies have found that productivity increases working remotely over working in an office. On average, those who work from home spend 10 minutes less a day being unproductive, work one more day a week, and get 47% more done. A Stanford study of 16,000 workers even found that productivity increased by 13% simply because there weren't any workplace distractions.

The second reason is workers are saving a whole bunch of money by eliminating a commute. This probably sounds like common sense, but throughout a survey of 2,000 professionals, 81% said that losing a commute was the number one perk of working remotely. Plus, when the average U.S. commuter spends almost 19% of their household expenditures driving to and from work, that adds up to a substantial savings.

The third reason is work-from-home employees have reported a better work-life balance. One study reported that of over 12,000 workers, fully remote employees had a happiness level about 20% greater than the office-centric ones. This survey from CNBC said that those workers were much more satisfied with their jobs than those who showed up in person.

Finally, the fourth reason is businesses could also benefit. For example, Autodesk doubled down on remote work and saw a 400% increase in job applications. They're not alone; as of now, 70% of job applicants are choosing remote work over in-person.

Although this is really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what's actually going on. Now, even though worker productivity and cost savings could be some of the more respected reasons for managers to hire remote employees, one anonymous survey found more, well, how should we say, realistic answers for why so many people want to work from home. For instance, 72% said that they wanted the freedom to nap or exercise during the day. 73% said that they wanted to watch TV while working. 62% cited concerns about their appearance, and 14% said that they wouldn't return to the office even if that meant losing their job.

And if that sounds extreme to walk away and quit, it's really not. In fact, one in four pandemic home buyers said that they would choose to stay at their new home and find a new job if required to return. Not to mention, if worker productivity was really the company's main concern, they would be surprised to learn that in-office employees really aren't doing any better either. For example, new research has found that in an average eight-hour day, the average worker is only productive for two hours and 53 minutes.

Yes, you heard that correctly! In a study of more than 2,000 people, it was revealed that workers spend more time reading the news, checking social media, discussing non-work related things with co-workers, and searching for new jobs than they did actual work. Now, for anybody who works from home, this is fantastic news, because in theory, you should be able to get all of your work done in a fraction of the time it would take you at an office without any distraction.

But for everyone else, it's not looking so good. And that, of course, begs the question: why are so many companies requiring people to return to the office? Is this why so many people are beginning to move back to California? Well, before we talk about why companies suddenly want people back in the office, let's talk about the soon-to-be fourth-largest economy in the world: California.

Even though we've heard non-stop stories about people fleeing the state, a recent finding from LinkedIn suggests that San Francisco is now ranked second among places gaining the most workers, despite being listed as one of the top 10 cities losing the most people in the year prior. You also have Tesla; in 2021, they proudly announced their departure from California to Texas, while criticizing the state for its taxes, regulation, and litigation. But today, two years later, they're back.

Now, there isn't any confirmed reason as to why they decided to move back, but it is speculated that California offered them substantial tax subsidies to relocate, and they did. If Tesla's not alone in this either, there's plenty of stories of former California residents who picked up on the left, were unhappy, and then decided to move back. One of the more notable people in this category is the KISS frontman Gene Simmons, who left Los Angeles for Las Vegas but wouldn't you know it, one year later, he sold his Vegas house to move back to Beverly Hills because he hated the weather.

Of course, bad weather isn't the only thing getting in the way. California companies are also asking their employees to return back to the office, with Mark Zuckerberg encouraging staff to find more opportunities to work with their colleagues in person. In addition to that, some California companies are getting a lot more strict about in-person attendance. For example, Apple is reported that they're threatening to level disciplinary action against workers who failed to come into the office for three-fifths of the working week. Meta also said that it's easier to build trust among workers when they're all in the office at least three days a week.

Or how about JP Morgan, who's required its leaders to be in the office five days a week with no exception? Even though that all sounds extreme, truth be told, it seems to be working. Earlier in the year, it was reported that more than half of employees had returned back to the office, and today that number is significantly higher, especially in San Francisco.

The same also goes for Disney, whose new CEO now requires employees to return to their Burbank offices at least four days a week. All of that is to say that even though California experienced some of the largest net migration out of the state during COVID, with return to the office going back into effect, the numbers are beginning to turn back around, with even more Floridians having moved to California than the other way around.

So what does this mean for employees? Could your job do something similar if they haven't done it already? Well, from the business perspective, a study in 2020 from the Harvard Business Review found that 38% of managers either agree or strongly agree that the performance of remote workers is usually lower than that of people who work in an office setting, thereby prompting them to do whatever they can to boost the bottom line.

Now what makes this even worse for employees is that companies can now afford to be even more aggressive to get what they want. For instance, a few years ago there was such a shortage of workers that employees could ask for whatever they wanted and get it. But now, with mass layoffs continuing throughout a variety of industries, employers are the ones who are able to call the shots. Because if somebody wants a job, they'll have no other choice other than to comply.

On top of that, mandating a return to the office could very well be a company's way of reducing staff to save money without having to fire people. For example, imagine you're AT&T with 60,000 managers and you need to fire 10% of your workforce because you can't afford them anymore. Well, instead of doing that and worrying all the investors, just tell everyone they have to return to the office, and inevitably, 10% of them are going to leave anyway. Well, in that case, there you go—problem solved.

Now, when it really comes down to it, the real answer of what's actually better is a bit difficult to quantify. For example, a Microsoft study found that work from home reduced creativity, communication, and teamwork, but a separate study found that workers are experiencing 56% greater creativity and innovative thinking when working remotely. So take that for what you will.

Now, even though creativity might be a mixed bag of results, MIT wanted a concrete definitive answer on the effects of meeting face to face, and so they got to work by tracking more than 50 million cell phone GPS coordinates and computer locks to see precisely what was happening. They then followed those coordinates right alongside with newly submitted patent creations, and to their surprise, face-to-face meetings significantly increased patent creations between establishments.

Even more remarkable, but if half the office worked from home, meetings would fall by 35%, and new creations would fall by 11.8%. All of that is to say that yes, there is something to be said about in-person creation and collaboration that can be measured outside of everything else, and by meeting with colleagues face to face, there is a measurable difference in output.

Now personally, as someone who works from home and does both virtual and in-person collaborations with the people I work with, I do have to say there is an element to meeting in person that just can't be replaced with doing it online. I know it sounds cliché, but when people get together in person, there's a synergy where ideas just flow more effortlessly. You're a little bit more creative; you could bounce ideas back and forth, and there's something that I've just never been able to recreate virtually. Believe me, I've tried.

That's why for myself, I've adopted a bit more of a hybrid approach, where we meet in person when it's absolutely necessary and when there's something really important to work on. But if it's something that's not going to make that big of a difference, we just work from home because it's easier. By doing this, I really feel like we get the best of both worlds, because you have the space to go and work on your own, but in person that’s when the magic really happens.

As far as people moving back to California, I certainly see why. If your employer is paying well, and they make it a condition to go and move back, it's probably worth it to comply and move back outside of just going and looking for a new job, which might not be worth it in today's environment. Personally, I've really enjoyed going back to California to visit on a spare weekend when I'm free, and I don't doubt that I would benefit from a lot of the face-to-face connections there.

But as far as whether or not I thought about moving back, the answer is probably not. We've just really enjoyed the community here in Las Vegas. The heat's not that big of an issue because I work from home all day anyway, and even though California's weather is nicer all things considered, the Vegas weather isn't really bad outside of the few months of the year where it's 115 degrees. But again, I'm inside anyway.

Although I will say, as far as the tech industry's Silicon Valley and a lot of these companies asking people to return to work, there is something about in-person collaboration that there is a benefit with. Sure, it might not need to happen five days a week, but how about two or three days of the week at least? That way employees get some of what they want, employers get some of what they want. By doing this, you'll be able to attract the best talent from around the world.

But at least that's my thought. Let me know what you guys think down below in the comments section. I will do my best to read as many of them as I can. So thank you so much for watching! As always, make sure also to subscribe, feel free to add me on Snapchat and Instagram, and don't forget that you can get some free stocks with a paid affiliate link down below in the description that could be worth all the way up to a few thousand dollars for like a few minutes of your time. Enjoy it, let me know what stocks you get. Thank you so much, and until next time!