Gov’t Contractors - End of Telework

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Retirement isn't a bad thing. It frees up the job market so everyone can move up, and there are jobs for college grads. Let the market work people.

This. And RTO will be good for new people coming up who need to work directly with others in order to learn the ropes and develop relationships.

This level of RTO was always a blip. Most of us saw it for what it was. If you didn't, I'm sorry -- I know this will feel jarring. But the truth is that certain work really should be done in person, a well run office will actually be good for morale, and there are positives to people quitting or retiring if they don't want to return to the office.

Nope. The office has died a slow death with Microsoft Teams, laptops, getting rid of landlines and iPhones.

Forcing people to travel with their laptop to a different location to use a laptop is wasteful and inefficient.

If you read history, there was similar backlash over the assembly line and how widgets are produced. Eventually efficiency won out and it will here as well, but it will likely take another decade.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure what the benefit to RTO is. My DH office does desk sharing. There is not going to be an actual place for some people to sit. The commute time will skyrocket. I have a feeling he's doing this to get people to retire and quit. What about those with medical conditions? This should be interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a family member who works for a defense company, she is over the moon that some of the leches in her organization will be given their pink slips soon. She does their work already anyway, so no loss there.

And this really isn’t about your family member

Though I am sorry to hear your family member is being harassed at work. Not sure RTO will fix that if she can’t bring herself to complain to HR. It might even make the problem worse.

[Anonymous]

My agency sent all contractors home for remote work because we didn’t have space for them. Then we hired a bunch of new people as Feds who weren’t given offices. So if contractors come in 5 days per week and all of the people without offices come in five days per week on top of everyone already sharing an office, people will be sitting on the floor to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure what the benefit to RTO is. My DH office does desk sharing. There is not going to be an actual place for some people to sit. The commute time will skyrocket. I have a feeling he's doing this to get people to retire and quit. What about those with medical conditions? This should be interesting.

Thing is, most of the older feds I know are less likely to leave than the newer people. If you are 30, it's a lot easier to get a higher paying professional private industry job than it is when you are 60 and still have ten years left til retirement because your full social security doesn't kick in until age 69.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wasn’t this always a risk? Presumably people considered the risk when they decided to move.

+1 never think the gravy train will last forever.

[Anonymous]

so I assume from now on Trump is going to work full time from the WH. no more "winter-white house" AKA Mar-a-Lago Florida for as long as he did last time. every day all day at the desk in the oval office......

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:so I assume from now on Trump is going to work full time from the WH. no more "winter-white house" AKA Mar-a-Lago Florida for as long as he did last time. every day all day at the desk in the oval office......

silly.. trump is always "do as I say, not as I do".

[Anonymous]

Two of my family members work as Sub Contractors for State and the IRS, they are being told that there is no change in their work arrangements, both work in IT. So, this could differ from agency to agency and also department to department. We shall see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Then they can get a job there. Or move back.

While 1-2 days/week telework is reasonable, living in Florida isn't.

Who made you in charge of determining what's reasonable and what's not?

Not poster, but I am a taxpayer, therefore I pay your salary. You understand that, don't you?

The government contractor is also a taxpayer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will lose all our best people. This is ridiculous.

No you won't. Either they come back or you promote your other people, and train new hires. This is literally how it has always worked.

If you want to work in Florida, there are gov't contractors based in Florida.

No, our talent will go overseas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two of my family members work as Sub Contractors for State and the IRS, they are being told that there is no change in their work arrangements, both work in IT. So, this could differ from agency to agency and also department to department. We shall see.

DHS contractor. We’ve heard nothing today. I suppose no news is good news and on with the status quo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a fed and I know some of my contractors are being told to come in full time. I am really concerned I'm going to lose some of my most experienced, brilliant team members who can easily retire or get a different job. I've told them that obviously they have to follow their employer's guidelines, but that as far as I'm concerned they've been doing exceptional work in our current hybrid setup.

I am a fed contractor and am actively applying for other jobs. My agency takes months to onboard, so good luck to them finding a replacement.

Huge brain drain from the government and contractors. Putin really got a return on his investment, it could take decades to undo the damage to the military.

So absurd. Biden could have tackled the obvious issue of remote workers and empty buildings but he didn’t. He just ignored it and so many other issues. To blame this situation on Trump is rich. Covid has been over for 2 plus years and still federal employees are remote. Another problem Trump is inheriting from Biden.

Being able to hire PhDs remotely isn't an issue. There isn't a problem with remote work.

Not following. People are bleating about being told to come in. Remote won’t cut it anymore. You will need to show up in person (fed or contractor) OR the government will have to sell buildings or end leases. I am agnostic but the status quo for the last 2 plus years is enormously wasteful. And Biden did nothing about it.

The government has already sold buildings and ended leases.

It's why my DH started telecommuting half a week back in 2006. There are currently three people sharing the same office and / cubicle.

Who are you people who think remote work / telecommuting started in 2020?
And that the federal government hasn't already sold the buildings and stopped the leasing?

All that was done under Obama to save money during the Great Recession.

So should we just sell the building? That would save money, reduce emissions (people driving in). Instead the govt wants to disrupt everyone’s lives so they can support the DC economy and justify buildings. Sell em.

[Anonymous]

Contracts that don't specify in person mean the govt can't do anything unless they put the language in the next renewal. As for feds the government can tell them what to do we they are direct employees

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure what the benefit to RTO is. My DH office does desk sharing. There is not going to be an actual place for some people to sit. The commute time will skyrocket. I have a feeling he's doing this to get people to retire and quit. What about those with medical conditions? This should be interesting.

We got a medical exemption when it was 3 days a week to 1 day but were refused it for 5 days a week. Its a joke. Its all about money and politics. Its $15 in tolls, plus gas (and lunch but we pack). I think some of it is to get people to quit but where will they go?