Federal workers forced to physically return to the office are separating themselves into two clear categories. Those who can cope with unexpected circumstances and those who can’t. The ones who freaked out and took their complaints to social media are destined for the unemployment line. The ones who looked around, sized up the situation and figured out how to make it work can expect promotions.
Flustered federal workers
Millions of federal workers weren’t pleased with the news they need to actually get dressed and drive into the office. The return to work order caught them by surprise.
Ever since the COVID pandemic, they’ve been working – and loafing – from home. For many, when they arrived, they learned that the office wasn’t ready for them.
The media overlooks the failure of supervisory level federal staff to verify that everything was ready for the workers to return.
All they had to do was pop into the office to notice maintenance staff had mothballed all the furniture and equipment. Instead, they allowed themselves to be blindsided when they finally got dragged in to work.
At one office inside the Department of Health and Human Services, “there was no Wi-Fi or full electricity.” That oversight was rectified “in the first hours” but the workers are still complaining about it on social media.
At the Dallas branch of the Department of Education, employees “returned to ethernet cords in piles around the floor, random wires sticking out of walls, and motion-sensor lights that weren’t working correctly, leading to dark workspaces.” The situation was so dangerous that “one employee tripped over a pile of cords on her first day back, resulting in a large gash on her foot.” The first report they pulled up on their word processor was a workers’ compensation complaint form.
Stuck in a conference room
Over at the Department of Defense, workers made due but weren’t happy about it. Because their desks were still in storage, they were “stuck in a conference room with people on different teams.” Staffers handling “sensitive information” were forced to “leave the room to make calls.”
One of them griped that they were “eventually moved to an office — but one without Wi-Fi, so they had to use their phone’s spotty hot spot.” They’ll be working in the private sector soon, if they can manage to land a job with their actual skills, that is.
The job insecurity fear hangs in the air like a cloud but that doesn’t stop the complaints. “The only thing a return to the office has given me is an hour of traffic while driving and a loss in efficiency,” one federal staffer relates, “who requested anonymity for fear of job reprisals.”
Elon Musk voodoo dolls are a popular desk decoration. When workers run out of pins they use their stapler to take out their anger and frustration.
The level of chaos is off the scale. Especially for staffers who’s office was sold right out from under them. They’re told they need to report in person but none of them have any idea where to go. “At least two office buildings used by the Interior Department in the Western U.S. were told last week their leases had been canceled.”
There’s a “third office housing hundreds of people” that just got notice “its lease will be up in June.” Those workers need to check directly with their supervisors while the GSA scrambles to “ensure facilities or alternative options will be available” for the displaced employees.
