cities dependent on tech workers hurting when all the employees go remote

[Demovictory9]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/09/20/coronavirus-economy-in-mountain-view-tech-gives-and-takes-away/

Coronavirus economy: In Mountain View, tech gives and takes away
City known for Big Tech has thousands of small businesses, many hurting

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - SEPTEMBER 14: Jackie Graham, the co-owner of the Sports Page Bar & Grill in Mountain View, Calif., sits inside her bar after a lunch break on Sept. 14, 2020. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
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It’s a warm Friday afternoon at a Mountain View sports pub just a stone’s throw from several Google offices, and tables inside and out should be filled with people celebrating the end of the workweek. But the long barroom with seating for 80 is closed by coronavirus regulations, and on the outdoor patio — despite efforts to draw people in — there are just a dozen customers drinking and eating in a space for more than 200.

In this city with an economy heavily dependent on the technology industry’s army of daytime workers, thousands of whom are typically bused in by their employers, the shift to remote work is wreaking financial havoc across a broad swath of Mountain View businesses even as the city’s biggest employer contributes new revenue and pandemic assistance.

“We’re surrounded by Google here, and Microsoft is just over there. A lot of small companies as well,” says Jackie Graham, who has owned The Sports Page with her husband, Rob, for 28 years. “We used to be busy nearly every day because of the surrounding companies.”


MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – SEPTEMBER 14: From left, customers Guy Reichman, Lawrence Lin and Michael Dellosso spend time at the patio area of The Sports Page Bar & Grill in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 14, 2020. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
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Now, the Grahams have pulled the net from the sand volleyball court and ringed the expanse with socially distanced picnic tables plucked from the patio, where they’ve mounted three giant-screen TVs along the rear fence “just to try to bring some people in,” Graham says.


The Sports Page has kept its five bartenders but at dramatically reduced hours. Graham estimates revenue has cratered 70% from pre-pandemic times.

[Sherman A1]

1. This is just the beginning

The restaurant and hospitality industries are in serious trouble.

[Baclava]

2. The days of crowded bars are gone, risk aversion, people change their behavior to decrease exposure

Reducing the chances of exposure to a dangerous contagious disease is the one thing most people will make personal changes in lifestyle for.

And its not just bars and restaurants, people wont be going back to office jobs for awhile, or going out shopping at all, in any crowds.