More than half of staff at major federal agencies are back working in person, new figures the Biden administration compiled for lawmakers show.
The White House found 1.2 million—or 54%—of 2.28 million federal employees at major government departments are working “fully onsite” because their jobs require them to be physically present during all working hours, according to the report first obtained by Bloomberg Government.
The Office of Management and Budget, which oversees personnel management across the federal government, collected the attendance data from 24 of the largest agencies during two two-week periods in May.
Congress demanded the information as part of a drive to get workers back into the office, and may use the results — especially at agencies with relatively low attendance — to push for more stringent requirements.
Agency Variation
The agency-by-agency breakdown of in-person attendance figures shows considerable variation by department.
Highest in-person attendance was reported by the Veterans Affairs Department, at 93.7%, and the Justice Department, at 91.4%.
The lowest figures were for the Housing and Urban Development Department, at 37.1%, and the Environmental Protection Agency, at 37.9%.
The all-staff figures excluded remote employees.
The Biden administration provided the figures following increased political scrutiny of government worker in-person attendance since the Covid-19 pandemic and the May 2023 ending of the federally declared emergency.
Republican lawmakers in January demanded detailed information on federal agencies’ compliance with return-to-office plans. That same month, the White House called on agency heads to start tracking efforts to get government workers back to the office, warning that managers were falling short of the administration’s goals for ensuring in-person work.
White House Tasks Cabinet Heads With Boosting Return to Office
At the 24 agencies surveyed, 1.1 million, or 46.4%, of civilian personnel were eligible for telework, and 228,000, or 10%, were in remote positions, according to the report. The agencies surveyed were those governed by the Chief Financial Officers Act enacted during President George H. W. Bush’s administration to improve the government’s financial management.
The OMB report also identified 23.3 million square feet of “underutilized” owned office space, with annual operation and maintenance costs of $67.2 million. Operating and maintaining government-owned buildings costs about $2 billion, the report said.
In a statement, the office acknowledged that some federal agencies are still working to meet in-person objectives for staff. “OMB looks forward to continued collaboration with agencies and Congress in pursuit of this goal and welcomes further engagement on the topics discussed in this report.”
Downtown Foot Traffic
Remote work by federal employees has generated bipartisan concern in Congress. Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), concerned by reduced foot traffic downtown, forged an alliance with Republican critics to seek a faster return to office by government staff.
The second fiscal 2024 spending package enacted earlier this year required reporting on telework, and continuing concern has also prompted dueling Senate bills.
Sen.
A measure by Homeland Chairman
(Michael Bloomberg, the majority owner of Bloomberg Government’s parent company, has published an op-ed calling for more in-office work by federal workers.)
Jack Fitzpatrick in Washington also contributed to this story.
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