Former President Donald Trump has signed an executive action requiring federal employees to return to in-person work, effectively ending remote work arrangements across government agencies.
The directive instructs department heads to "terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis," though agency leaders can make necessary exemptions.
The move comes despite data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management showing that most federal employees already work primarily in-person. According to OPM, 54% of the federal government's 2.3 million civilian employees work entirely in-person, while only 10% work fully remotely.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), representing 800,000 federal workers, criticized the action as potentially harmful to recruitment and retention. AFGE President Everett Kelley noted that hybrid work options help agencies compete for talent and warned that some facilities may lack adequate office space after consolidating during remote work periods.
The directive also includes a temporary federal hiring freeze, with exceptions for military and immigration enforcement roles. The Office of Management and Budget must deliver a plan within 90 days to reduce the federal workforce through "efficiency improvements and attrition."
Former acting OPM director Rob Shriver had previously cautioned against a universal approach to work arrangements, arguing it could impact the government's ability to handle key challenges.
The executive action aligns with views expressed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in a Wall Street Journal piece, where they welcomed potential resignations from employees unwilling to return to offices full-time. As the Department of Government Employees (DOGE) moves to terminate remote work policies implemented during the pandemic, thousands of federal workers face major changes to their work arrangements. /news/federal-return-to-office-mandate-doge-to-end-remote-work-for-800000-employees/