The return of Salesforce employees is boosting businesses in downtown San Francisco

The sidewalks of downtown San Francisco became increasingly busy this week as Salesforce employees returned to the office full-time.

For Zachary Taylor, who runs 83 Proof — a bar directly across from Salesforce Tower — a packed happy hour crowd on a Wednesday was a beautiful sight.

“I'm just seeing faces coming back that I haven't seen in a long time and, you know, names on credit cards that I haven't seen in a long time, so that's always a good sign,” Taylor said.

Like so many companies in the area, 83 Proof has been greatly impacted by the large number of employees who are still working from home instead of returning to the office since the pandemic hit.

This week brought a big change: Salesforce is now requiring most employees to return to the building. That's music to Taylor's ears.

“When Salesforce comes back, LinkedIn comes back, some of the law firms. Other companies and AI companies are starting to take over some of the office space. We’ll just see more normality at pre-pandemic levels,” Taylor said.

A block down the street, the people who work at International Smoke just agree. They said they've already noticed a big difference in the two days since Salesforce employees had to come back.

“I saw a lot more traffic outside, which is nice. I think people are still orienting themselves as they return to the office, so we haven't necessarily seen them come into the office yet. It's only been two days, but you know, we came by yesterday and said, 'Hey, we're here!'” said Jose Gorospe, general manager of International Smoke.

Gorospe says he expects larger crowds to come as people get used to office life again.

Back at 83 Proof, Zachary expects a similar increase in customers. He says their crowds are still slightly below pre-pandemic levels, but just the fact that people are back working in the area will make a big difference.

“I'm hoping for an increase of about 10 to 15 percent as more people get used to returning to the office more frequently,” Taylor said.

Bar customer Klara Viktorynova told CBS News Bay Area that she also works at a nearby restaurant. She was celebrating her birthday at the age of 83 and was happy to see the store full of people having a good time.

“I think it's great to see a lot of professionals having fun. There are so many places in San Francisco that have introduced happy hours where they didn't have happy hours before just to attract a little more crowd. And that's it.” “A wonderful place to live,” said Viktorynova.