Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - have a few years and moved due to husbands job and my agency transitioned my role to remote because of my portfolio. I am far, far away and I truly miss DC but we cannot afford it and kids are in elementary school.

I find so much meaning in my work and I’d be willing to even go in satellite offices but I don’t know if that is enough. It just makes me sad that the address of my work will drive if I keep my job. I wonder if I’m being too positive and hopeful and should be jumping ship instead.

I get what you are saying and if you were truly remote before covid I would think you’d be fine. But keep in mind that there are no guarantees with any job, be it public or private. Lot’s of people in the private sector are sad when they get laid off too. It sucks. Hope you find a work around.

DP, but I’m tired of people making comparisons to what happens in the private sector. Feds accepted their jobs based on the protections and benefits of the public sector including giving up careers making more money. I’m 15 years in and teleworked for a decade prior to COVID. I chose this over making more money because I wanted work/life balance as a mom.

My DH is private sector so I’m aware of what can happen in the private sector. But he makes more money than me including employee stock and bonuses.

I and many Feds are having the rug pulled out from under us by a president who doesn’t give a crap about this country. He’s doing it to create a civil service full of loyalists and so he can destroy programs he doesn’t like without going through Congress. So no, this is a absolutely nothing like anything that has happened in the private sector.

This is what bugs me. So, what does your work/life balance mean for the taxpayers that fund your salary, excellent benefits and pension? There is also no guarantee you'd be making tons of money/get an excellent role in the private sector.

There are tremendous benefits in government jobs all of which are funded by taxpayers. Going to pick up Joey from school at 3PM and then signing on at 4:30PM to send one email and call it a day is not work/life balance. There are plenty of jobs that give flexibility if you need to leave occasionally, but it is when people use it frequently that it can be a problem.

Don't you think Elon Musk will have IT check to see when everyone has been working? People seem concerned about badge swipes. They can access information/usage from any equipment they own. My spouse was in a meeting (not gov) which showed all sorts of data about people not working/getting stuff done. He was concerned about a team member who said they were working and my spouse went on the system after it became a pattern and realized the person signed on and worked for maybe a couple hours and then used some kind of device (mouse mover or some such) to make it look like they were working. My spouse also realized pretty quickly this person was using AI to do work/emails. They would send an email here or there/hard to reach. When my spouse got this information, then IT was contacted and they got even more. Who knows maybe they even do these system checks, I don't know, but I would be more concerned about it happening in the coming months.

If you're worried and you are meant to be in the office and are close-by I would go in. And if you are remote then work your hours and make sure you're actually working in the system. Either way it will take time (I think) so just apply for roles you'd actually take and keep in touch with people in your network so that if you get laid off, you aren't just contacting people when you need something.

lol. Good luck doing this for 2 million federal employees. Then dealing with all the complaints and EEO grievances etc. Good luck Elon!

To the original PP here, are you suggesting no one in the private sector has flexibility? That’s not true. I have lots of friends and neighbors who do all kinds of things that offer a lot of WAH flexibility - even pre pandemic - that allow them to flex out, pick up kids etc…

Govt workers WAH isn’t some unique thing and many of us WAH some pre pandemic. Are there slackers? Yeah, I’m sure there are some but to me that’s a management issue. I’m fine with making it easier to get rid of performers but generally think managers should be assessing work product and productivity. And I don’t think it should be treated like a prison camp. If Larla is a great employee doing lots of work who cares that she unloaded her dishwasher and cut up some veggies for dinner sometime during the day? I work in an office that’s really really busy. People can’t just check out and nap or watch movies on work time because they’d be missing calls and meetings and deadlines. So the kinds of things that might get done at home are the little incidental things I mentioned - and people in my office work a lot of extra hours so honestly the lack of commute is allowing people to put in more work.

Anonymous wrote:Here is a govt work at home. Log on respond some emails, open word doc put coffee mug on key board so it types away nonsense, go get dressed come back push some more buttons.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My agency was 80% telework for years, including Trump 1.0. We didn't have the physical space (in a private building) and still don't have space (just moved this fall to another private building with a smaller footprint based on pre-pandemic plans of 80% telework). Assume there are occupancy laws that can't force us all into a space meant for 25% of us at any given time?

They can cram you into open office seats or even do fixed swing shifts.

What is a “swing shift?”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a govt work at home. Log on respond some emails, open word doc put coffee mug on key board so it types away nonsense, go get dressed come back push some more buttons.

Not sure about government, but I know some people in the private sector who definitely do this. Lots of private sector folks are "working" two jobs. That's why there has been such an uproar about RTO at Amazon -- message boards are filled with Amazon employees fretting about how they're no longer going to be able to collect two paychecks.

Pay them a good wage and they won't need to "work" two jobs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My agency was 80% telework for years, including Trump 1.0. We didn't have the physical space (in a private building) and still don't have space (just moved this fall to another private building with a smaller footprint based on pre-pandemic plans of 80% telework). Assume there are occupancy laws that can't force us all into a space meant for 25% of us at any given time?

They can cram you into open office seats or even do fixed swing shifts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - have a few years and moved due to husbands job and my agency transitioned my role to remote because of my portfolio. I am far, far away and I truly miss DC but we cannot afford it and kids are in elementary school.

I find so much meaning in my work and I’d be willing to even go in satellite offices but I don’t know if that is enough. It just makes me sad that the address of my work will drive if I keep my job. I wonder if I’m being too positive and hopeful and should be jumping ship instead.

I get what you are saying and if you were truly remote before covid I would think you’d be fine. But keep in mind that there are no guarantees with any job, be it public or private. Lot’s of people in the private sector are sad when they get laid off too. It sucks. Hope you find a work around.

DP, but I’m tired of people making comparisons to what happens in the private sector. Feds accepted their jobs based on the protections and benefits of the public sector including giving up careers making more money. I’m 15 years in and teleworked for a decade prior to COVID. I chose this over making more money because I wanted work/life balance as a mom.

My DH is private sector so I’m aware of what can happen in the private sector. But he makes more money than me including employee stock and bonuses.

I and many Feds are having the rug pulled out from under us by a president who doesn’t give a crap about this country. He’s doing it to create a civil service full of loyalists and so he can destroy programs he doesn’t like without going through Congress. So no, this is a absolutely nothing like anything that has happened in the private sector.

This is what bugs me. So, what does your work/life balance mean for the taxpayers that fund your salary, excellent benefits and pension? There is also no guarantee you'd be making tons of money/get an excellent role in the private sector.

There are tremendous benefits in government jobs all of which are funded by taxpayers. Going to pick up Joey from school at 3PM and then signing on at 4:30PM to send one email and call it a day is not work/life balance. There are plenty of jobs that give flexibility if you need to leave occasionally, but it is when people use it frequently that it can be a problem.

Don't you think Elon Musk will have IT check to see when everyone has been working? People seem concerned about badge swipes. They can access information/usage from any equipment they own. My spouse was in a meeting (not gov) which showed all sorts of data about people not working/getting stuff done. He was concerned about a team member who said they were working and my spouse went on the system after it became a pattern and realized the person signed on and worked for maybe a couple hours and then used some kind of device (mouse mover or some such) to make it look like they were working. My spouse also realized pretty quickly this person was using AI to do work/emails. They would send an email here or there/hard to reach. When my spouse got this information, then IT was contacted and they got even more. Who knows maybe they even do these system checks, I don't know, but I would be more concerned about it happening in the coming months.

If you're worried and you are meant to be in the office and are close-by I would go in. And if you are remote then work your hours and make sure you're actually working in the system. Either way it will take time (I think) so just apply for roles you'd actually take and keep in touch with people in your network so that if you get laid off, you aren't just contacting people when you need something.

lol. Good luck doing this for 2 million federal employees. Then dealing with all the complaints and EEO grievances etc. Good luck Elon!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would like to see Trump wake up at 6;00, make himself breakfast and DRIVE HIMSELF to an office sixty minutes away, park his own car, make his own lunch, etc. You know that none of these guys could hack this themselves!!!

He is a legendary workaholic. At 78 he sleeps 4-5 hours a night. Back in his hey day in NYC in the 1970s and early 1980s he used to sleep 1-3 hours a night. He used to get at work at 7am and often with events and meetings get home at 3am and back at work at 7am.

He is in NY, NJ, Florida, UK, DC often within a few day period. I dont know how he does it. Then he does dinner and breakfast meeting. Musk is also like that. These guys will do 100 hour work weeks no problem. And do it for decades no problem.

It’s easy to stay up all night when all you do each day is watch TV and eat hamburgers

Do you remember when he tweeted about a New York Times article that talked about this and he kept spelling hamburger wrong.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a govt work at home. Log on respond some emails, open word doc put coffee mug on key board so it types away nonsense, go get dressed come back push some more buttons.

Not sure about government, but I know some people in the private sector who definitely do this. Lots of private sector folks are "working" two jobs. That's why there has been such an uproar about RTO at Amazon -- message boards are filled with Amazon employees fretting about how they're no longer going to be able to collect two paychecks.

Pay them a good wage and they won't need to "work" two jobs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a govt work at home. Log on respond some emails, open word doc put coffee mug on key board so it types away nonsense, go get dressed come back push some more buttons.

Not sure about government, but I know some people in the private sector who definitely do this. Lots of private sector folks are "working" two jobs. That's why there has been such an uproar about RTO at Amazon -- message boards are filled with Amazon employees fretting about how they're no longer going to be able to collect two paychecks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saw this directly from Trump not doge https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-challenges-union-deal-remote-work-policies-federal-workers/#

I am not union so no lawsuits to drag out - just a remote employee with stellar performance. Besides looking for jobs in private sector what else can I do? Have been a remote employee since pre pandemic. You all have been sane in your commentary about doge but it seems that all hope is lost with it coming from Trump now. I really love my job and I’d move back if it wasn’t for my kids and schools.

Elon’s going to find out pretty quickly that sending people to Mars will be so much easier than sending them back to their desks.

Sending people to Mars is going to be quite the challenge when all the retirement-eligible people at NASA quit if they have to go in 5 days per week.

Why do we need NASA when we have SpaceX?

SpaceX and NASA aren’t competitors. NASA is an anchor client for SpaceX. Also, do you like things like weather satellites? That’s NASA. Want to pay a subscriber fee for hurricane warnings instead?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saw this directly from Trump not doge https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-challenges-union-deal-remote-work-policies-federal-workers/#

I am not union so no lawsuits to drag out - just a remote employee with stellar performance. Besides looking for jobs in private sector what else can I do? Have been a remote employee since pre pandemic. You all have been sane in your commentary about doge but it seems that all hope is lost with it coming from Trump now. I really love my job and I’d move back if it wasn’t for my kids and schools.

Elon’s going to find out pretty quickly that sending people to Mars will be so much easier than sending them back to their desks.

Sending people to Mars is going to be quite the challenge when all the retirement-eligible people at NASA quit if they have to go in 5 days per week.

Why do we need NASA when we have SpaceX?

Anonymous wrote:Here is a govt work at home. Log on respond some emails, open word doc put coffee mug on key board so it types away nonsense, go get dressed come back push some more buttons.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - have a few years and moved due to husbands job and my agency transitioned my role to remote because of my portfolio. I am far, far away and I truly miss DC but we cannot afford it and kids are in elementary school.

I find so much meaning in my work and I’d be willing to even go in satellite offices but I don’t know if that is enough. It just makes me sad that the address of my work will drive if I keep my job. I wonder if I’m being too positive and hopeful and should be jumping ship instead.

I get what you are saying and if you were truly remote before covid I would think you’d be fine. But keep in mind that there are no guarantees with any job, be it public or private. Lot’s of people in the private sector are sad when they get laid off too. It sucks. Hope you find a work around.

DP, but I’m tired of people making comparisons to what happens in the private sector. Feds accepted their jobs based on the protections and benefits of the public sector including giving up careers making more money. I’m 15 years in and teleworked for a decade prior to COVID. I chose this over making more money because I wanted work/life balance as a mom.

My DH is private sector so I’m aware of what can happen in the private sector. But he makes more money than me including employee stock and bonuses.

I and many Feds are having the rug pulled out from under us by a president who doesn’t give a crap about this country. He’s doing it to create a civil service full of loyalists and so he can destroy programs he doesn’t like without going through Congress. So no, this is a absolutely nothing like anything that has happened in the private sector.

This is what bugs me. So, what does your work/life balance mean for the taxpayers that fund your salary, excellent benefits and pension? There is also no guarantee you'd be making tons of money/get an excellent role in the private sector.

There are tremendous benefits in government jobs all of which are funded by taxpayers. Going to pick up Joey from school at 3PM and then signing on at 4:30PM to send one email and call it a day is not work/life balance. There are plenty of jobs that give flexibility if you need to leave occasionally, but it is when people use it frequently that it can be a problem.

Don't you think Elon Musk will have IT check to see when everyone has been working? People seem concerned about badge swipes. They can access information/usage from any equipment they own. My spouse was in a meeting (not gov) which showed all sorts of data about people not working/getting stuff done. He was concerned about a team member who said they were working and my spouse went on the system after it became a pattern and realized the person signed on and worked for maybe a couple hours and then used some kind of device (mouse mover or some such) to make it look like they were working. My spouse also realized pretty quickly this person was using AI to do work/emails. They would send an email here or there/hard to reach. When my spouse got this information, then IT was contacted and they got even more. Who knows maybe they even do these system checks, I don't know, but I would be more concerned about it happening in the coming months.

If you're worried and you are meant to be in the office and are close-by I would go in. And if you are remote then work your hours and make sure you're actually working in the system. Either way it will take time (I think) so just apply for roles you'd actually take and keep in touch with people in your network so that if you get laid off, you aren't just contacting people when you need something.

lol. Good luck doing this for 2 million federal employees. Then dealing with all the complaints and EEO grievances etc. Good luck Elon!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - have a few years and moved due to husbands job and my agency transitioned my role to remote because of my portfolio. I am far, far away and I truly miss DC but we cannot afford it and kids are in elementary school.

I find so much meaning in my work and I’d be willing to even go in satellite offices but I don’t know if that is enough. It just makes me sad that the address of my work will drive if I keep my job. I wonder if I’m being too positive and hopeful and should be jumping ship instead.

I get what you are saying and if you were truly remote before covid I would think you’d be fine. But keep in mind that there are no guarantees with any job, be it public or private. Lot’s of people in the private sector are sad when they get laid off too. It sucks. Hope you find a work around.

DP, but I’m tired of people making comparisons to what happens in the private sector. Feds accepted their jobs based on the protections and benefits of the public sector including giving up careers making more money. I’m 15 years in and teleworked for a decade prior to COVID. I chose this over making more money because I wanted work/life balance as a mom.

My DH is private sector so I’m aware of what can happen in the private sector. But he makes more money than me including employee stock and bonuses.

I and many Feds are having the rug pulled out from under us by a president who doesn’t give a crap about this country. He’s doing it to create a civil service full of loyalists and so he can destroy programs he doesn’t like without going through Congress. So no, this is a absolutely nothing like anything that has happened in the private sector.

This is what bugs me. So, what does your work/life balance mean for the taxpayers that fund your salary, excellent benefits and pension? There is also no guarantee you'd be making tons of money/get an excellent role in the private sector.

There are tremendous benefits in government jobs all of which are funded by taxpayers. Going to pick up Joey from school at 3PM and then signing on at 4:30PM to send one email and call it a day is not work/life balance. There are plenty of jobs that give flexibility if you need to leave occasionally, but it is when people use it frequently that it can be a problem.

Don't you think Elon Musk will have IT check to see when everyone has been working? People seem concerned about badge swipes. They can access information/usage from any equipment they own. My spouse was in a meeting (not gov) which showed all sorts of data about people not working/getting stuff done. He was concerned about a team member who said they were working and my spouse went on the system after it became a pattern and realized the person signed on and worked for maybe a couple hours and then used some kind of device (mouse mover or some such) to make it look like they were working. My spouse also realized pretty quickly this person was using AI to do work/emails. They would send an email here or there/hard to reach. When my spouse got this information, then IT was contacted and they got even more. Who knows maybe they even do these system checks, I don't know, but I would be more concerned about it happening in the coming months.

If you're worried and you are meant to be in the office and are close-by I would go in. And if you are remote then work your hours and make sure you're actually working in the system. Either way it will take time (I think) so just apply for roles you'd actually take and keep in touch with people in your network so that if you get laid off, you aren't just contacting people when you need something.