Decentralization of fed govt begins: HHS employees eligible for permanent remote work

[Anonymous]

The NTEU just won what looks like permanent WFH for eligible HHS employees:

https://www.nteu.org/~/media/Files/nteu/docs/public/hhs/2022/102622hhs-workplace-flexibilities-mou.pdf?la=en

And here they said this would never happen. How many people will now immediately be thinking about ditching the DMV because of traffic, HCOL, rising crime, etc.? HHS is a huge employer, especially in MoCo. How badly could MoCo get hammered if people flee since MoCo relies so much on govt jobs because the county just cannot grow its economy? If govt workers start fleeing en masse due to permanent remote work, this may make Thrive 2050 an awful idea.

There are so many implications here given that the HHS may be letting the cat out of the bag for other agencies to follow suit. So many areas of the country to potentially move to with far lower costs for families and better schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The NTEU just won what looks like permanent WFH for eligible HHS employees:

https://www.nteu.org/~/media/Files/nteu/docs/public/hhs/2022/102622hhs-workplace-flexibilities-mou.pdf?la=en

And here they said this would never happen. How many people will now immediately be thinking about ditching the DMV because of traffic, HCOL, rising crime, etc.? HHS is a huge employer, especially in MoCo. How badly could MoCo get hammered if people flee since MoCo relies so much on govt jobs because the county just cannot grow its economy? If govt workers start fleeing en masse due to permanent remote work, this may make Thrive 2050 an awful idea.

There are so many implications here given that the HHS may be letting the cat out of the bag for other agencies to follow suit. So many areas of the country to potentially move to with far lower costs for families and better schools.

You have no idea of what you're talking about. Most government workers live in VA and NoVa contracting workforce and IT sweatshops rely heavily on the federal government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The NTEU just won what looks like permanent WFH for eligible HHS employees:

https://www.nteu.org/~/media/Files/nteu/docs/public/hhs/2022/102622hhs-workplace-flexibilities-mou.pdf?la=en

And here they said this would never happen. How many people will now immediately be thinking about ditching the DMV because of traffic, HCOL, rising crime, etc.? HHS is a huge employer, especially in MoCo. How badly could MoCo get hammered if people flee since MoCo relies so much on govt jobs because the county just cannot grow its economy? If govt workers start fleeing en masse due to permanent remote work, this may make Thrive 2050 an awful idea.

There are so many implications here given that the HHS may be letting the cat out of the bag for other agencies to follow suit. So many areas of the country to potentially move to with far lower costs for families and better schools.

You have no idea of what you're talking about. Most government workers live in VA and NoVa contracting workforce and IT sweatshops rely heavily on the federal government.

Post 1 and post 2 are not mutually exclusive. MoCo could lose lots of workers while VA continues to host the majority of DMV-based feds.

[Anonymous]

Not everyone likes living out in the country. I tried it for several years. It was not for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not everyone likes living out in the country. I tried it for several years. It was not for me.

LOL. The choice here is not DMV vs "the country" necessarily.
There are lots of other metro areas to live in that have a lower cost of living and far less traffic that the DMV.

[Anonymous]

I’m at NIH which employs a lot of MoCo residents, but it’s a mixture of residents across the DMW including Baltimore.

[Anonymous]

That word doesn't mean what you think it means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m at NIH which employs a lot of MoCo residents, but it’s a mixture of residents across the DMW including Baltimore.

… And WV

[Anonymous]

Lmao, people who have homes and are settled are not fleeing MoCo. Believe it or not, it’s a great county to raise a family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not everyone likes living out in the country. I tried it for several years. It was not for me.

Huh? Moving away from the DMV could be something as innocuous as like moving to the Baltimore area, for example, where rents and homes are much cheaper. You'd even still get DC locality pay. Many people may be enticed to move to Georgia, North Carolina, etc. where rents and homes are cheaper. The world is your oyster now in terms of where you can live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lmao, people who have homes and are settled are not fleeing MoCo. Believe it or not, it’s a great county to raise a family.

Crime is exploding in MoCo. Schools are declining in quality. Watch as taxes keep going up too. With Thrive, home owners have less incentive to stay, because they'll be bulldozing homes and budinf big apartment complexes next to your house. Now may be time to cash out and sell your home to a developer. Just by moving to other parts of MD you can live where their is lower crime and lower taxes.

[Anonymous]

Before we talk about a mass exodus, read the agreement carefully.

The condition for granting remote work is "The employee’s duties require less than 16 hours per bi-weekly pay period at the agency worksite."

And you know who gets to decide that? Management. There is nothing in there about clear criteria for when "duties require."

I think maybe wait and see how many people actually get approved.

[Anonymous]

HUD had similar language, I think, and remote work was denied for almost everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before we talk about a mass exodus, read the agreement carefully.

The condition for granting remote work is "The employee’s duties require less than 16 hours per bi-weekly pay period at the agency worksite."

And you know who gets to decide that? Management. There is nothing in there about clear criteria for when "duties require."

I think maybe wait and see how many people actually get approved.

Eh. For HHS, who needs to go to the worksite except for people in a lab? They're office jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before we talk about a mass exodus, read the agreement carefully.

The condition for granting remote work is "The employee’s duties require less than 16 hours per bi-weekly pay period at the agency worksite."

And you know who gets to decide that? Management. There is nothing in there about clear criteria for when "duties require."

I think maybe wait and see how many people actually get approved.

Eh. For HHS, who needs to go to the worksite except for people in a lab? They're office jobs.

I'm not taking a position on what jobs require onsite presence. I'm just pointing out that management has full discretion to make the call. And we know that MANY organizations have decided that "office jobs" still require a certain amount of onsite presence.

I wouldn't expect the floodgates to open based on this union agreement.