Who says tech companies have to downsize their San Francisco offices? Certainly not SAP, Europe’s largest technology company.
The German enterprise software giant has just opened a larger office at 135 Townsend Street in South of Market, big enough for 500 people, San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The 30,000-square-foot office was a blip compared to the millions of square feet vacated and listed for sublet across the city. A third of offices are empty. The city’s office vacancy rate just hit a record 32.7%, according to Savills.
Contrary to the work-from-home trend that impoverished San Francisco’s pre-pandemic influx of commuters, SAP executives said SAP employees wanted to go to work.
“We have amazing talent out there who are very eager to come to the office,” Yaad Oren, managing director of SAP US Labs and head of the SAP Innovation Center Network, told Chronicle.
Like most tech giants, SAP cuts jobs after announcing them 3,000 layoffs – or 3% of employees – in January. At the same time, it aims to hire 1,000 workers in growth areas.
Reuters reported last week The company is working with San Francisco-based OpenAI, the creator of the chatbot ChatGPT. SAP has integrated ChatGPT into its technology, developing more than 50 AI case studies.
“Artificial intelligence is one of SAP’s strategic pillars, one of our growth engines,” Oren told the paper.
The company’s new office, located in a five-story building at 135 Townsend Street, was built in 2013 and is owned by Walnut Creek-based LLC Field Storage, Chronicle reported. Property Search Tracker. Terms of SAP’s lease were not disclosed.
The office has a roof deck with views of the Giants field, collaboration alcoves and a library with employee study areas.
SAP has 3,500 employees in the Bay Area, with large offices in San Ramon and Palo Alto. It is one of the few local companies expanding or maintaining its offices in the age of remote work.
This year, San Jose-based Cisco updated a 247,000 sq. ft. lease At 500 Terry A. Francois Boulevard in Mission Bay, it was the biggest rental deal in San Francisco this year.deal with mountain view based sobrato organization It took another 7.5 years on site.
But major employers in San Francisco such as sales force and meta platformthe parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has shrunk their office footprint by subleasing.
— Dana Bartholomew
