Q&A of the Day – DOGE & Abuse of the Remote Work Model
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station’s page in the iHeart app.
Today’s Entry: Good morning, Brian. A few points on government telework, as a federal employee for over a decade. Teams going out to veterans’ homes, as I do, have been teleworking for over many years. It does not mean you never go into an office. For me, I go in to pick up a vehicle and then drive to homes, teleworking afterwards, saving tax money by keeping the vehicle away from Riviera Beach VA hospital. It also allows me to chart and prepare for the next day. If I/others had to drive over 30 miles back up to the hospital, the turnover rate-and patient care-would be different. With telework, many of us-without requesting OT, work over since we are already at home. This also includes hurricane/storm times each year. Also, over 200 federal agencies are in the area and there may not be enough space for all staff. As for the VA, there has been a committee just for finding and delving out office space. I think in the end, those who teleworked before the pandemic will continue, i.e., teams who go out to vet’s homes such as home-based primary care or homeless programs, and others will receive any available office space.
Bottom Line: That’s excellent perspective and I’m appreciative of the information as much as the obvious dedication by this listener (and others who go about their work similarly). Today’s note comes as Elon Musk’s team DOGE and the Trump administration are in full-fledged cost cutting and efficiency mode. As I’ve previously discussed...the United States was founded with only 5 government agencies. Entering the second Trump administration we had 430. The fact is we don’t need 430 federal government agencies. How many of those 430 agencies do you think are really operating every day to make your life better? Do you think you could do better things with your money than fund hundreds of government agencies you couldn’t name if your life depended on it, or do you think all of those government agencies are doing better things with your money than you could? President Trump and Elon Musk clearly feel this way too.
Musk recently indicated that based on his preliminary review he estimated that we can save $500 billion annually, over 7% of total federal government spending, simply by eliminating wasteful government spending (with the potential to reduce federal spending by $1.5-$2 trillion based on policy adjustments that would need to be agreed to by Congress). His stated goal was to reduce wasteful spending by $4 billion per day until he achieved this objective. For example, when Trump & Musk ended the Federal Government’s DEI office, they immediately saved over $1 billion by ending government DEI contracts. While it remains to be seen what the actual numbers will be, he’s wasted no time in making major changes with the assistance of President Trump’s executive orders.
All in, by the time Musk is done with DOGE he anticipates achieving a 30% reduction in the federal workforce which would amount to 900,000 fewer federal employees across perhaps 100+ fewer federal agencies. Now, as it pertains to today’s conversation, just as he did within his own companies, (Twitter/X, Tesla, etc.) he’s seeking to achieve most of those reductions through the elimination of remote workers, or telework, as it’s referred to in the federal government. That’s been the focus because of these reasons:
- 69% of full-time remote workers have another job
- 37% of full-time remote workers have another full-time job
During and immediately after the pandemic there were many debates about whether remote work led to more or less productivity. The fact of the matter is that it depends on the person and the job. Some people, as self-starters, are responsible and thrive in a remote environment. Some people take advantage of the model by not working as long or as hard (or on that second job). However, the averages have become clear.
On balance remote workers are less productive than those who work in the office. This is why most of corporate America, including big tech firms, have demanded employees return to the office. A five-year Standford study concluded that office-based employees average being 10% more productive than those who work remotely. As it pertains to the federal government...
Currently 32% of federal employees work in an office (or within a job that requires being in the field), 54% are working in a hybrid model and 14% have never reported to an office (commonly people who were hired under remote work models within the past five years during and after COVID). Based on the averages, fewer than a third of federal employees are working within the most productive model. With that said there are exceptions. The listener who submitted today’s note is clearly working within one of those. I agree with the assessment that positions such as this example that require a flex model will likely be unimpacted.
Thursday is key day in this conversation as it marks the deadline day for federal employees to take an eight-month severance package being offered by the administration or risk being laid off. It remains to be seen how many will take the buyout, however some of the early estimates suggest it’s possible that Musk may be able to achieve half of his desired reduced in the federal workforce by the end of the week.