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Etsy pronounces plans to shut its San Francisco workplace

Etsy announced it will close its satellite office in downtown San Francisco after a significant number of its staff said they did not plan to go back following a shift to a hybrid work model.

“Many who are currently remote have told us they do not plan to return to an office in the near future,” Kim Seymour, chief human resources officer, wrote in a news release shared on Etsy’s website Monday. “As a result, we are closing our offices in Hudson, NY and San Francisco, CA, where employee office utilization has been extremely low.”

A spokesperson for Etsy confirmed to SFGATE the office will close in September.

The San Francisco branch of the online makers marketplace was on the third floor of 20 California St. in the Financial District, according to Glassdoor. Seymour said Etsy would consolidate its operations to “a few key office ‘hubs’ in centralized regions,” including the company’s headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, as well as offices in Dublin and Mexico City.

Employees based out of the San Francisco office will be expected to transition to a fully remote model. “We’ll continue to ensure they are supported, able to work productively, and can effectively collaborate with colleagues,” Seymour wrote.

Over 7,800 square feet of office space on the third floor of 20 California St., including a reception area, two conference rooms, two breakout rooms and four call rooms, will be available for lease later this October, according to Loopnet. Offices on the second, fourth and seventh floor of the building were also on the listing.

The news comes after Etsy received “overwhelmingly positive” feedback from staff in this year’s company-wide employee engagement survey, with more than 80% of employees favorably responding to the flexible work model policies and nearly all of them stating that they felt productive and part of a team, including remote employees, Seymour wrote in the news release.

“One of our guiding principles is minimizing waste, and operating offices that go predominately unused is in direct opposition to that principle — wasting energy, capital and internal programming efforts,” Seymour wrote.

Etsy follows a long line of Bay Area tech companies shuttering their downtown offices. On Wednesday, Twitter said it would terminate its office lease in Oakland in addition to vacating its remaining office space at 1 10th Street in SoMa, where it leased several floors. And earlier this month, Salesforce listed nearly half its office space at 50 Fremont St. for lease.

Meanwhile, Block, formerly known as Square, said in June that it would not renew the lease on its former headquarters in the Mid-Market neighborhood. And in April, PayPal said it would close its office at 425 Market St. between First and Fremont streets.

“The pandemic, in particular, has taught us there are many ways in which we can work effectively while providing our employees with flexibility,” PayPal told SFGATE at the time.

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