High gas prices present another hurdle in bringing workers back to the office

A car is shown at a gas pump, Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, at a gas station in North Miami, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Amna Nadeem is excited about starting her job as a software engineer at Google. She interned with the company last fall — remotely.

But beginning mid-April, the 22-year-old recent college graduate will be going into the office at least three days a week. So gas prices, which have inched up toward $6 per gallon in California, are high on her mind.

As she looks for housing near Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, one of costliest housing markets in the country, she’s thinking about paying more to live closer to work, to save on gas and commuting.