I generally hope for a society where people can have flexibility to do what works for them and makes life more enjoyable for people, not less; not a suck it up mentality. OP, schedule changes are hard and exhausting these days, give it time and try to give yourself permission to let things drop. Those who have always gone in, you are probably doing a service we all need, like healthcare - thank you! If you aren’t enjoying your job for whatever reason, e.g., if going in every day doesn’t work for you, I hope you can find something that better fits the lifestyle you want.

I didn’t telework pre-2020 even though most of my office either had one day PP or an AWS. I have a short commute and didn’t see the need for it. Then COVID hit and we were home 100% of the time and during that period, with all the upheaval with school and parenting during a pandemic, having that flexibility and the freedom to both work and have time for my kids-not during working hrs but to be there when they got home from school or to be able to shut down at 5 and transition right to family time-was priceless and I was grateful for it as those days were hard and unpredictable.

Then we slowly returned to ultimately three days a week and I appreciated the balance. Being the office and having face time was great but I could get a lot more done on my quiet, uninterrupted home days. Plus I could still step out, take the dog for a walk, and strike a balance in my work/life.

What I’m noticing now that we’re back five days is that I appreciate balancing work/life more than I ever did pre-2020 and no longer take it for granted. Now that I know what I’m missing out on by not being home at all, I’m much more willing to carve out the time to make sure I’m still getting in the family time, the walk with the dog, the exercise time, etc. Unless something is crashing I’m not compromising that time and my boundaries are much stronger than before. The in-office time goes by so quickly-the days breeze by, so that’s a positive but I hope we get at least one day of TW back by 2029-the complete lack of flexibility is unreasonable and sucks up my leave if I can’t flex a day here or there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did you do pre 2020? People commuted to the office every day. Kids went to daycare. Parents came home, made dinner, helped with homework. It’s life.

I was teleworking two days a week like the majority of government employees.

The majority of fed employees were not teleworking two days per week before 2020. I've seen a discussion about this recently, and I think it was like 20% of feds were teleworking pre-Covid. I'm happy to be wrong though. Please show me the numbers.

What non military/intelligence agency didn’t have telework prior to Covid??? Very few of us had 5 days a week, but most had 1-2 days.

State had one max and you couldn’t use it with any other work schedule flexibility (45/9, etc).

More proof RTO is for desperately lonely people with nothing going on their personal lives. The office is where they get all their socializing done and need to force people in to do it.

Anonymous wrote:Actually. It hasn’t been so bad after all. There is something rewarding about dressing professionally and stepping off that elevator feeling like I have a great job. The people can be fun and energizing and it’s someone to get lunch with.

Nothing makes me feel like a professional with a great job more than getting an email on a Sunday night telling me I'm fired if I don't RTO the next morning!

Actually. It hasn’t been so bad after all. There is something rewarding about dressing professionally and stepping off that elevator feeling like I have a great job. The people can be fun and energizing and it’s someone to get lunch with.

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Anonymous wrote:What's killing me is the lack of flexibility. My kids just can't stop getting sick. They're old enough that they could nap/watch TV (they're lethargic while sick) and I could telework.

Instead, I'm just taking full days of leave. Work is piled sky high at work due to this and also because so many people quit. Unsustainable.

Man Up. My Mom had a job, my wife's mom had a job. We went to school sick all the time. I dont recall a single time my Mom or Dad took off cause I was sick.

I do recall once the nurse called my Mom at work and said there is a problem as I am sick, my Mom said sounds like your problem.

No school is OK with this in 2025.

I teach in a Title 1 school and many parents don't answer calls from school. The sick kid is returned to the classroom until dismissal. It happens nearly every week in my grade level.

Your school needs to keep them isolated. Not ok you do that and make the rest of us sick.

I agree but the "nurse" will not allow students to stay in her office due to "privacy concerns." She said that students come in to take meds and students might overhear medical details about other students. If nobody is on their way to pick the student up, they send them back to class. We've complained but nothing has ever been done.

At my kid's school you need to put down multiple people who can pick up. Say they call mom and she doesn't pick up. then they call dad, grandma, a neighbor. Basically I had to give multiple names who would pick up your child if sick/needed to.

One child's parents didn't pick up (typical they both would not answer and are wealthy and have a nanny) and the nurse finally send the kid back with a mask on. Then the nurse wrote an email to the parents saying it cannot happen again and they must send over 2 other adults who know and have permission to pick up. Kid got sick again and someone picked the kid up. My kids are at a Title 1 school too.

I call parents fairly frequently and last year, 1/4-1/3 of all numbers listed were no longer in use. It isn’t unusual for the nurse to call every number and have nobody answer. I send Dojo messages too and many parents don’t look at them until days later.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RTO has been great on productivity though. People can’t just hide out in Zoomland as easily. People can see the files stacking up. Everyone knows who’s cranking out stuff.

Again, this is the opposite of what’s true for Feds.

+1 Those are MAGA talking points.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did you do pre 2020? People commuted to the office every day. Kids went to daycare. Parents came home, made dinner, helped with homework. It’s life.

I was teleworking two days a week like the majority of government employees.

I telecommuted 3 days a week for a decade before Covid came on the scene in 2020.

I was two days a week prior to COVID and my agency seamlessly adapted when COVID hit and didn’t miss a beat. We even had Zoom months before COVID.

We all know that full RTO for knowledge workers (public and private) is all at the behest of the heads of government and business. For some it is about attrition (Trump/Vought/Bezos) and for others it is about saving downtowns (Bowser/Newsom). Either way, individual productivity doesn’t matter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did you do pre 2020? People commuted to the office every day. Kids went to daycare. Parents came home, made dinner, helped with homework. It’s life.

I was teleworking two days a week like the majority of government employees.

The majority of fed employees were not teleworking two days per week before 2020. I've seen a discussion about this recently, and I think it was like 20% of feds were teleworking pre-Covid. I'm happy to be wrong though. Please show me the numbers.

What non military/intelligence agency didn’t have telework prior to Covid??? Very few of us had 5 days a week, but most had 1-2 days.

My spouse did.

Anonymous wrote:More friends are starting to use van pools, shuttle buses, slug lines, car pools, and Metro. Just try it a couple of days a week. Then you don’t have to drive. It’s really working out for several of us. Quit your belly-aching already.

That's only an option if one of them goes near your office. There are none for my spouse. Metro would take several hours going from MD to VA.

More friends are starting to use van pools, shuttle buses, slug lines, car pools, and Metro. Just try it a couple of days a week. Then you don’t have to drive. It’s really working out for several of us. Quit your belly-aching already.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did you do pre 2020? People commuted to the office every day. Kids went to daycare. Parents came home, made dinner, helped with homework. It’s life.

I was teleworking two days a week like the majority of government employees.

The majority of fed employees were not teleworking two days per week before 2020. I've seen a discussion about this recently, and I think it was like 20% of feds were teleworking pre-Covid. I'm happy to be wrong though. Please show me the numbers.

What non military/intelligence agency didn’t have telework prior to Covid??? Very few of us had 5 days a week, but most had 1-2 days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was no work life balance before 2020. We were all exhausted and stressed to the brink with the madness of commuting. And now life is much harder and more expensive. And it’s 2025…we are going backwards for no reason. Bring back telework for anyone who has a job that can telework. It’s good for everyone. For society as a whole.

there was tons of work life balance pre -2020. I would think you have to go back to pre 1990 at earliest to have no work life balance Most people under 60 have never worked a real work week in their life. It was horrible at work in the 1970s and 1980s. Most have never seen it pre computers and automation where you were processing massive amount of work by being at work 12-13 hours a day with no breaks with people cursing and blowing smoke in your fact in a suit and tie or business suit with pantyhose.

I started working in 1991. So yeah I remember all the no work life balance. It was and is brutal and unnecessary to not have it. Even after Sept 11, there was no work life balance for me. I’ve been in federal government for almost 10 years and it was only when I started that I got 1 telework day per week, then four, and now nothing. Anyone that had work life before 2020 was supremely lucky. It’s relatively new and we need to get it back. I don’t want what’s happening currently to affect my kids or professionals that I respect.

Anonymous wrote:Oh poor you.
Say the rest of us who’ve been working in person all along. Sorry I don’t sympathize.

That sucks for your but is irrelevant Many places and people have found ways to do their work and have a better work-life balance. Why do you want to take that away from them? Just bc you can't have it where you are? Are you always such a bitter ahat?

And yes, this is ENTIRELY the fault of this administration.