Governor Youngkin changes telecommuting policy; many state workers resign
Feels good to get the blue off. (Harris/Planetkram.com)
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin changed state government telecommuting policy. This change required many state workers, who were participating in telework, to return to their offices by July 5. However, over 300 employees submitted resignations in the wake of the governor’s decision. This is based on information that ABC 8News obtained via a freedom of information request. They received information related to seven agencies, five agencies reported resignations.
From ABC 8News::
On May 5, Youngkin updated the state’s telework policy for all state employees to begin working in-person full-time by July 5, a change the governor’s office stressed would provide “options for and supports the use of telework where appropriate.” Youngkin said it would help “balance the demands of government services with the needs of our public servants.”
Other state agencies and divisions, including the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC), provided employment resignations since Youngkin’s announcement in May after 8News filed public record requests.
According to those records, VDH had 78 resignations and VEC had 37 resignations from May 5 to June 27. Virginia’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) had seven resignations from May 5 to July 6 and Virginia’s Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) had six resignations from May 4 to July 7.
“Unfortunately we’re not surprised by this information,” Dylan Bishop, a lobbyist for the Virginia Governmental Employees Association (VGEA), told 8News Friday. “We had anticipated that the shift in policy would result in an exodus of workers, which is really concerning because of the state’s recruitment and retention issues.”
Most of the departments did not provide reasons for the resignations, but VDH shared that 29 former workers cited “Better Job,” three said “Dissatisfied,” six cited “Home Responsibilities,” two listed “Illness,” seven said they were leaving the area, three cited “School” and 27 listed “Other” as the reason.
ABC 8News has the article here.
We firmly believe that if the work gets done, no one should care about whether it is done in office or remotely. For those whose productivity has decreased because of telework, a push for in-person work makes sense. Plus, most work done in offices are delayed because of unnecessary meetings, incessant phone calls, watercooler bullshitting, and procrastination. “What is seen is what get measured.” This is the ethos that American work life entails, but most tasks that add value can be done anywhere. The office is basically just an adult school building designed to keep track of people and micromanage.
For the most part, I concur. I’ve been telecommuting for over seven years, and I sure as Hell don’t want to work in an office, again.
However, public-facing business units STILL need people to face the public. Not everything can be done remotely.
I found it took more self-discipline to telework. Not a problem for me, just an observation.
Having been a state employee, working for several state entities/agencies after working for 32 years for private employers, I can fully support what the Governor is doing. State workers are some of the most incompetent and lazy people I have ever worked with. Those who have spent most of their working lives as government employees spend much of their eight hours wasting time and figuring out how to avoid work. One job I had could be completed in about three or four hours of work each day on most days. (This was because of my litigation skills in 24 years working for private law firms.) I spent the rest of the day surfing the internet.
Several of the other lawyers in my office would come in around 10:00 am and go home around 4:00 pm, after they took almost two hours for lunch. One even complained to our managing attorney that he was having trouble keeping up with his case load. Maybe if he worked his files more than three or four hours a day, it wouldn’t have been a problem.
What did we do before cell phones and Computers. We used to pick up stocks and bonds on wall street when they used punch cards then one day I go into a stop for a pickup and they had the floor raised up and new PC’s with screens and then the home PC’s came in which I am typing on but a 209 PC. Before we had Motorola radios in the trucks, Customers would tell us to call our office and that’s how it was done for years untill we got the truck radios which later on went to digital phones and it prevented me from listening on my scanner.
People used to get their daily news from me walking a
paper route before dawn.
Poor babies. Actually got to get up and go to work. Wah Wah
Gonna agree with Rocking Specter a bit too. AW1 Rod makes some very good points too. Lots of modern “work” can be done remotely, but I always pretty much had hands on work. I’m sure productivity was affected by a lack of micro managing, but that would have been offset by a lack of office gossip and shamming. E-4 mafia Modus Operendi is not limited to Pay Grade E-4 in the military. Then again, if they did more remote working, they could cull down on the overhead of having so many state offices…with the expense that comes with it. Might even give cause for a little tax reduction. Yeah, that last part will happen…NOT!
How many were already living out of state?
Still have neighbors in Hack’s neighborhood bitching about President Trump moving the Department of Agriculture to Kansas. Crops may be grown in the heartland, but we all know that the manure comes from DC.
Dead weight. Good riddance.