In Austin, Texas, Jonah Paul, a California state employee, finds himself arriving home late due to his commute to the Sacramento office. The commute is set to become more frequent as he, along with thousands of state employees nationwide, are being urged to return to the office this year. This shift is observed in states governed by both Democrats and Republicans, such as California and Texas, which collectively employ over 350,000 public-sector workers.
The push to bring employees back to the office aligns with the directive from the Trump administration for federal workers and follows similar moves made by major corporations like Amazon, JP Morgan Chase, and AT&T. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent order emphasizes concerns regarding productivity and collaboration. Starting July 1, state employees are required to be in the office at least four days a week, with exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
Jonah Paul, who also serves as the president of SEIU Local 1000, remarks, “The governor’s executive order caught everyone off guard, and people are genuinely upset.” While some studies suggest that strict in-office regulations may hinder productivity, Republican governors from states like Missouri, Ohio, and Indiana justify the return to the office for efficiency reasons.
In Texas, state employees have received emails instructing them to resume full-time office work following Governor Greg Abbott’s directive to end remote work. Abbott’s spokesperson, Andrew Mahaleris, stresses the importance of utilizing taxpayer dollars efficiently and aligning with the federal workforce’s return to the office.
Approaches to remote work policies vary among states. New York permits agencies to set their own guidelines, while some, like Wisconsin, have proposed legislation mandating in-person work. Economist Nicholas Bloom notes that while these return-to-office orders may not result in mass resignations, top performers may leave first, impacting recruitment and retention.
Chris Tilly, a UCLA professor, suggests that states may need to increase salaries or enhance benefits to compensate for the loss of flexibility. While concerns linger, some employees, like California’s janitors and highway patrol officers, are accustomed to reporting to work in-person daily.
Despite positive findings on remote work impact, Texas chose to pivot towards in-office work, causing worry among employees like Rolf Straubhaar, who fear that individuals with medical needs may not receive exemptions.
“Paul wakes up at 5 a.m. to commute for two hours from his home in Oakland to his job at an employment development agency in the state capital. The agency already has staggered in-office days due to limited space, and now his colleagues are facing additional logistical challenges. ‘There’s a physical constraint that makes this directive even more unreasonable,’ Paul remarked. ‘It’s not practical to require everyone to return.’ Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative, a program by Report for America, a nonprofit that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover underreported issues.”
