For the public sector, return-to-office is becoming a political battle. Here’s why, and how government agencies can use workplace solutions to make the office a place workers will be happy to come back to.
Every year, FM:Systems surveys U.S. leaders in HR, finance, facilities, and real estate to better understand how they are delivering the right workspace solutions and experiences for the people who use them. The respondents come from a wide range of industries, including pharma, technology and healthcare, and we ask individuals taking the survey to let us know what industry they work in. This allows us to pinpoint variations in how different industries are handling issues like return-to-office, digital transformation, and sustainability.
One interesting take away from the results of the most recent FM:Systems Inside the Workplace survey is that there seems to be more urgency among public sector organizations, compared with other industries, around getting employees back in the office.
In this blog post, we’ll look at why that might be the case and how government agencies can use FM:Systems technology to help make their offices a more welcoming place for workers to return.
Overall, the survey results show that leadership support for alternative work models is waning. Employees are spending more time in the office now than they were a year ago, and most respondents said they expect a return to full-time in-office within the next three years. The response to that question from representatives of the public sector was especially high, at 62%. Only six percent of respondents from government agencies said they expect employees will spend less time in the office over the next 1-3 years than they do now. There appears to be a good reason for that: As of January 2024, the more than 400,000 employees of the federal government were mandated to return to the office at least two or three days per week.
When asked why returning to the office was important, the majority of respondents from the government sector – nearly 60% — said that they believed people are less productive when working remotely, and that they perform better in-person. But there’s another driver behind these RTO mandates that’s unique to the public sector: Government agencies are, generally speaking, not able to relocate as easily considering the funds needed to acquire or construct a new office must be allocated by the government. So, while many companies that saw office occupancy plummet in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic were able to move to smaller offices, most government agencies didn’t have that same luxury.
Meanwhile, the cost of all the unused workspace that these agencies are effectively locked into has been adding up. With this money coming out of public coffers, politicians on both sides of the aisle have started to clamor for workplace solutions to make the office a place workers will be happy to come back to and put an end to fully-remote working.
For example, while the federal government mandate already went into effect in January, Senators Joe Manchin and Mitt Romney recently introduced the Back to Work Act of 2024 to codify the new policy. This legislation would limit telework to no more than 40% of days within an employee’s pay period and require agencies to report to Congress on the productivity of their telework activities. The announcement of the proposed legislation cites statistics from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) showing that, in 2023, 17 of 24 federal agency headquarters were operating at an average capacity of 25% less — that’s less than half the overall occupancy rate in the U.S.
Our workplace survey results appear to back up those claims of underutilization; the public sector had the lowest percentage of organizations implementing a full-time in-office work model, at 36% (the healthcare industry was the highest, with 53% of employees in the office five days per week).
While there are plenty of differences between public and private sector organizations, one similarity to this pressure of people returning to the office has highlighted that mandates don’t always go over well with the rank and file. For example, a survey by the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys (NAAUSA) revealed that, in offices where staff are being forced to return to the office, 81 percent of respondents said they were searching for a new job.
Despite the blowback, the political pressure to curtail alternative workplace solutions for government employees is spreading to the state and local levels. The mayor of Philadelphia, for example, is requiring all city workers to return to the office full-time starting July 15.
How can government agencies address employees’ reluctance to give up remote and hybrid working?
One solution is to deploy autonomous smart building technology to help make workspaces healthier and a more invigorating place to work. Our 2024 Inside the Workplace survey revealed, however, that the public sector has fallen behind in adopting workplace management solutions to optimize workspaces. Nearly a quarter of respondents from government organizations said they have no workplace management software in place to collect data to accurately measure the performance or success of their current workplace arrangement, double the average from all other industries. Unsurprisingly, 12% of public sector respondents lacked confidence in the accuracy of their data, versus 4% overall.
Flexible Workplace Solutions with FM:Systems’ Modular Platform, FMS:Workplace
In the quest for efficient workplace solutions, flexibility is key. FM:Systems offers modular platforms that empower businesses to select only the modules they need or embrace a comprehensive system. This customizable approach to workplace management solutions allows organizations to craft a strategy that perfectly aligns with their unique operational requirements, enhancing productivity and optimizing resources. For more details on these customizable solutions, visit our workplace management solutions product page.
Connecting People and Assets: Advanced Workplace Management Solutions
Modern workplace solutions are all about connectivity—linking data, people, and assets wherever work happens. By implementing advanced asset management software, businesses can streamline operations and elevate the employee experience. These comprehensive workplace management solutions ensure a seamless office environment, fostering collaboration and driving success in today’s dynamic work settings.
Our workplace management solutions are used by over 150 government institutions, including 10 of the 15 federal government departments. These agencies are using FM:Systems solutions to gain the data-backed insights needed to deliver productive workplace experiences, increase efficiency and enhance employee health and wellness, while also identifying major real estate cost reduction opportunities.
Frequently Asked Workplace Management Solutions Questions:
What are corporate and workplace solutions?
Corporate and Workplace Solutions delivers solutions that maximize the efficiency and productivity of our people. Our work enables our people every day, providing innovative workplace settings, tools and amenities to deliver on behalf of our clients.
What is global workplace solutions?
Global Workplace Solutions (GWS), a worldwide leader in delivering superior workplace results, combines both the sophisticated intelligence and unrivaled expertise required to plan, execute and manage real estate operations and portfolios on behalf of innovative companies worldwide.
What does workplace do?
Workplace is an enterprise collaboration platform designed by Facebook. You could almost call it ‘social media for business.’ With Workplace, teams can communicate, share information, and collaborate. Like the Facebook social media platform, Workplace features profiles and news feeds.
