Trump's federal return-to-office orders are massively backfiring

…At the Department of Agriculture, the chaos manifests in IT bottlenecks and wireless network failures as staffers struggle with unfamiliar on-site systems. In one case, employees hired for fully remote positions now find themselves conducting private meetings from parked cars outside agency buildings due to inadequate workspace. Ironically, many are still using Microsoft Teams and other virtual tools — only now with more stress, less efficiency, and significantly higher overhead...

https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/5266355-federal-offices-return-to-office/ 

 

Federal workers ordered back to office find chaos and shortages : NPR

As agencies scramble to comply with President Trump's Jan. 20 order terminating remote work, employees say the process has been marked by confusion, changing guidance and frustrating conditions...

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/nx-s1-5338945/federal-workers-return-to-office-chaos 

US federal workers weigh Trump’s buyout offer: ‘We’re feeling petty as hell’ | Trump administration | The Guardian

So many of us are trying to continue focusing on our work while being told to immediately return to the office, but also to not return to the office yet because there is not space for all of us nor the resources to relocate everyone...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/05/trump-buyout-federal-workers 

 



Federal workers say there isn’t enough space to return to the office - The Washington Post

"That's the $64,000 question these days, right?" Michael Peters, Trump's newly appointed commissioner of the Public Buildings Service — the General Service Administration branch in charge of federal real estate — said at a meeting last week of the Public Buildings Reform Board when asked how agencies will accommodate all the workers returning to the office. 

"We don't have firm guidance at this point in time. But we recognize that there is a potential problem," Peters said… 

"There are some specific offices where they literally don't have enough square feet per person," he said. "They'll be sitting on top of each other." 

The challenge could be exacerbated by the Trump administration's push to shed federal offices. On Tuesday, Peters wrote in a memo that the government's non-Defense Department office space should be reduced by at least 50 percent…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/02/05/trump-federal-return-to-office-telework-space/ 

 

Union Leaders Condemn Trump's Federal Workers Return-to-Office Mandate - Business Insider

…hybrid work has been so successful that many agencies have consolidated or sold off office space that's expensive to maintain, "meaning there may no longer be enough office space to accommodate an influx of on-site workers."… 

Erwin said the return-to-office mandate showed the "problem with governing by completely political, manufactured talking points." 

"They're going to force people back into the office, and it's not going to make people more productive for the American taxpayer," he said…

https://www.businessinsider.com/union-leaders-condemn-trump-federal-workers-return-to-office-mandate-2025-1