The Biden administration promised that post-pandemic, federal workers would have to go back to work. Then it flipped around and cut a deal with pro-Biden unions to have federal workers go on ‘working’ in their PJs.
Now the feds are being told they have to go back to work. And they are not happy.
After President Donald Trump directed agencies to return the federal workforce to the office full-time, many federal employees said productivity will suffer under a blanket return-to-office mandate, according to the results of a Federal News Network survey.
Uh-huh. Yes, making federal workers work will hurt their productivity. No one however will be able to tell because much of the federal ‘workforce’ doesn’t do anything resembling work. They hold meetings and fill out paperwork. Then they order new office chairs. There are federal workers who perform a useful function but few of them are in D.C. or fill out Federal News Network surveys which sounds straight out of Starship Troopers.
One survey respondent who works at the Department of Veterans Affairs, for instance, said their VA facility has “finite space.”
“If we were required to return to the office, there would not be sufficient space for staff to provide quality care to our veterans,” the respondent wrote. “For return-to-work mandates, there should be accommodations for facilities that don’t have sufficient office space. Work that can be done from home should be done from home, and work that requires in-person presence should be done in the office.”
Yes, I’m sure the folks who don’t want to come to the office because they’d rather work from home are providing lots of quality care for veterans.
“My team is more productive in a teleworking environment — the output proves it,” one respondent wrote. “There are fewer disruptions, and less time spent commuting often leads to more time on the clock. The level of engagement is high, and we actively use technology, like Microsoft Teams, for collaborative meetings and discussions. Telework also provides better work-life balance, so that staff are able to bring their most productive selves to work.”
“My entire team lives in different states, but we are a well-oiled machine that efficiently and effectively get the job done with excellence,” one respondent wrote. “Forcing a return to work would be a major negative impact to both employees and stakeholders.”
“It will result in talented employees leaving the government,” one respondent wrote. “The government should find a better way to retain high performers and talented employees to continue to serve the public in a meaningful way.”
They can best serve the public in a meaningful way by leaving.