telework

Comment of the Day: “Critics of Federal Workers Telecommuting May Exaggerate But the Truth Is Bad Enough”

/ Jack Marshall / 22 Comments

This Comment of the Day by new participant in the comment wars Dr. Blae cheers my pre-Christmas cockles more than most for two reasons: 1) I always love it when a first time commenter weighs in with a Comment of the Day. This is especially true since I spend so much time reading attempted first-time comments that read: “You suck, asshole!” 2) Genuine expertise on these topics is always a godsend. I am a pan-ethicist, meaning that I work in the ethics field regarding too many areas to count, legal ethics substantially but also business ethics, government ethics, sports ethics, academic ethics, journalism ethics, and more. I am neither a participant nor an expert in many of these fields themselves, so when ethics and one of them intersect, a specialist is especially welcome.

Here is Dr. Blae’s Comment of the Day on the post, “Critics of Federal Workers Telecommuting May Exaggerate But the Truth Is Bad Enough”:

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So let’s break this down…

  • Federal agencies have been maintaining uninhabited office space in some of the most expensive real estate markets in the US.
  • The majority of federal workers, that can, telework/remote work and avoid coming into the office.
  • There is an assumption of a lack of efficiency due to telework/remote work, but the evidence is anecdotal or not directly relevant (e.g., office occupation).

Now for a couple of questions… prior to COVID:

  • When were government employees accused of being efficient?
  • What is efficiency? This is really important since the implication is a quantitative comparison, so we need some numbers.
  • Are all jobs/positions the same? Is there a single solution?
  • Where do most federal employees (in the DC area) come from?
  • How do you “drain the swamp” by reconcentrating employees in the swamp?
  • What is a comparison of costs between an employee doing telework/remote work v. being physically in the office?
  • Why do federal agencies continue to rent unoccupied spaces when according to GSA regulations/policies they are supposed to “right size” office space?

Ok let’s take into consideration a few points…

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Critics of Federal Workers Telecommuting May Exaggerate But the Truth Is Bad Enough

/ Jack Marshall / 50 Comments

Last week one head-exploding story sparked by the rise of DOGE was the allegation that so many federal workers are allowed to work from home without supervision. Quotes…

“We only have six percent of our federal workforce actually going into work every single day.” – Senator Joni Ernst on FOX News, December 5, 2024

“If you exclude security guards & maintenance personnel, the number of government workers who show up in person and do 40 hours of work a week is closer to 1%!” – Elon Musk, Twitter/X, December 5, 2024

“Most federal workers are eligible to telework and 90 percent of those are…Nearly one-third of federal workers are entirely remote …Service backlogs and delays, unanswered phone calls and emails, and no-show appointments are harming the health, lives, and aspirations of Americans.”– Senator Joni Ernst, “Out of Office: Bureaucrats on the beach and in bubble baths but not in office buildings“.

I read these and many news stories arising from them and, frankly, found the claims hard to believe. As one would expect, the American Federation of Government Employees rushed to defend its members. Given the mission of that organization and its membership, one can reasonably expect it to shade reality and the statistics used to explain it to the public so the federal workers under attack are placed in the best light possible. I don’t trust statistics advanced by interest groups, and neither should anyone else. But just for giggles, let’s assume that all of the statistics raised to rebut federal workforce-bashers in “Exaggerating use and misuse of telework is demeaning attempt to justify job cuts” are 100% accurate, objective and unbiased. Then we know…

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