Downtown Pleasanton

Christina Mitine

Communications manager

I have mixed emotions because I really appreciate the value of in-person collaboration. It's a really great reason to go into the office. But at the same time, the commute to and from work adds additional strain, stress and expense to the workday that had pretty much disappeared during COVID.

Abraham Satten

Systems analyst

My employer actually is not forcing people to come back into the office but is instead leaving it optional and up to each employee to decide if and when they want to be at work in-person. I go in frequently because based upon the nature of my work and projects, I find it more productive to interact face-to-face with my colleagues than remotely/virtually.

Sagar Joshi

Software engineer

My company does not have an office here on the West Coast so I've been working remotely for years, long before COVID made remote working a necessity. I really wish I had an office locally that my employer was encouraging me to go into because I miss being with people during my workday.

Daren Law

Industrial designer

I'm not loving it. I honestly feel as though I can be far more productive when I'm working from home because there are so many fewer distractions. Forcing people to come into the office and lose hours of their day just getting there and back just makes very little sense to me.

Corinne Tompkins

Office manager

I'm so happy about it. I enjoy going into an office because I like my co-workers and spending time with them. But these days when I go in, there is often almost no one else there, which is disappointing. Depressing even. Before COVID my office was a bustling, stimulating environment, but now the space often seems like a ghost town. I'm really glad my employer is insisting people come into the office at least three days a week.

-- Compiled by Nancy and Jeff Lewis