From Bloomberg Opinion:
... Even if private-sector employers see benefits in allowing workers to maintain hybrid work arrangements, the standard for public servants is different. Remote work hobbles the ability of government officials to collaborate, respond nimbly to crises, and forge consensus on policy goals. Because taxpayer funds will be spent maintaining federal buildings regardless, it also wastes money and worsens voters’ cynicism about government. ...
30 comments:
I think it's a load of nonsense and exactly what I would expect from a capitalist rag.
Mighty odd to assume the government will continue to pay for unused office space. Any actual evidence to suggest that, or is this just more of the usual Bloomberg fake news?
I think that the pandemic has caused a paradigm shift in work arrangements that will matter going forward. In many cases, the need to be in an office has been shown to be unnecessary.
But, that is not always the case and in cases where public service is actually needed, like a public facing agency like Social Security, the need to be present in offices remains critical. For those employees, Government or even in Social Security, where there is no public contact, then I expect that remote working will continue.
And the same applies to private sector work as well.
And a couple of weeks ago, on this Blog, a survey was done for SS employees, while the vast majority responding wanted to continue to work remotely, only 3% said it was because of a genuine concern of COVID. That was, is, and will always mark the union argument for at home work the hypocritical lie it is.
Nimble? In any environment the one thing the government is not is nimble. Especially when responding to a crisis. See Covid 19 response. Collaboration? Consensus? Whoever wrote this article appears to have never spent a day working for government. LMAO
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but front line employees really do need to be in the office 4 days a week with a telework day to catch up on backlogged work.
Other components that can work remotely should come into the office at least 2 days a week so that employees can collaborate and retain some sort of connection to the office.
Senior execs should be in the office 5 days a week. There's really no reason at that level for them to be home at all since all they do is attend meetings, which are better conducted in person.
The only reason to go back to the office work environment is so management folks can justify their jobs. There is virtually no true management going on at SSA as many of their managers do little managing or any work.
"Remote work hobbles the ability of government officials to collaborate, respond nimbly to crises, and forge consensus on policy goals."
This would apply to top level government officials and not the worker bees. Ironically, former anti-remote work Comish Andrew Saul rarely showed up at the office if comments on this blog can be believed.
"Because taxpayer funds will be spent maintaining federal buildings regardless, it also wastes money and worsens voters’ cynicism about government. ..."
In our area, other than some of the field offices, most SSA employees work in rented space in commercial buildings. So as space requirements decline, less space will have to be rented. Federal Buildings can also be repurposed. I understand some guy leased a large post office in Washington DC and turned it into a luxury hotel.
Opponents of remote work: Really? These are the best arguments you can come up with for requiring all government employees to return to the office full time?
@ 12:34
A strong argument can be made that managers at SSA (low level) don't do much or any really useful work, but to say they are doing nothing just isn't accurate. Take it from me, a former first line sup for the agency in one of the big components--managers who are trying to do what they are supposed do are supremely busy with dumb things like:
- Countless, pointless meetings (that they didn't call or want to attend);
- Spending literal hours all told every time their inferiors have to do anything required (i.e., just making sure everyone timely takes, certifies, etc. every single dumb video training, etc. You would be amazed at how many folks don't just watch these and how much time mgmt spends following up, getting steamed about noncompliant employees (and meeting about them many times), etc.)
- Taking part in all sorts of EEOC, internal harassment/hostile work environment, and OIG investigations (which are quite common at SSA and, if you're a manager even remotely involved, you have lots of doc finding and production; interviews/affidavits; meeting with OGC; etc. etc.)
- Dealing with any issue your employee has with HR, pay, IT, etc. (and these occur frequently)
If your manager is halfway trying to do what is expected, they are plenty busy. It's just they aren't often busy doing any of the real work their employees are doing or anything even directly related to that work--they're busy in meetings, checking up on their subordinates in so many ways, and filling out countless and growing reports/random requests for info every second of the workday.
Just some perspective.
Okay, this actually isn't meant to be a dig at government officials, but literally nobody expects the government to respond "nimbly" to any crises, at least not any that are handled by an agency. Maybe the military or even Department of State at times. Even the treasury in some sort of economic crash. But what instance has ever occurred where SSA, FAA, IRS, etc. was there even a expectation for an agency to respond "nimbly?"
Mostly misses the point. SSA public-facing operations are missing several critical elements:
1. Reliable phone system that gets people to the employees who can help them
2. Reliable way to get documents to the attention of the people who can deal with them
3. A system for managing issues that come in via phone, email, fax so that (after triage) cases are handled in order
4. a system to make sure that follow-up inquiries are routed to the person who initially handled the issue.
None of these are in place.
12:34 and 1:31
You have no clue what you are talking about.
I was one of these “low level” management people. I spent 2020 and 2021 doing replacement card applications, working the reception, backing up phones and processing work, including the most difficult cases. I was the person in the office as clerical and mail handler for the staff at home. I did this to maintain service to the public and support my staff in getting the work processed.
All the traditional management duties were either not done or deferred because I simply did not have the time. I held things together as best I could and left the agency because there was no end in sight.
“Low level” managers are the ones who were keeping things going during the full telework of the pandemic.
For what it's worth, I love video hearings and I hope they are the preferred method of doing hearings going forward.
I don't see why a more hybrid system can't be developed for SSA employees at all levels going forward. Lots to do on the technology side to make this happen, but it should be what is being strived for.
This editorial touches on nothing that actually happens with Social Security or any large government agency.
The only argument that needs to be considered, and weighed heavily, is the just how convoluted a claimant's experience can be during the life of their entitlement to Social Security. Not caused by SSA, but all the various laws and adjustments that can happen, that require the employee to recognize, understand, explain and possible resolve the issue and still have a frustrated public who assumes it is SSA that caused the problem, not Congress.
It has been 40 years since the last major SS reform, perhaps it is time to come up with a simpler approach to old-age, survivor and disability entitlements. Because neither the public nor any public employee deserves what is going to happen for the next decade of understaffing.
Field offices aside, most HQ employees are deeply in denial that they will ever have to go back into the office. The writing is on the wall. All positions are not going remote. There will be telework, but not 5 days a week. Like it or not, deep down you know what the outcome will eventually be (probably in September).
@5:30 Oh please. You know damn well that 12:34pm is right.
Blah blah blah blah. All I want is somebody to answer the phone when I call. All I want is an answer to the letters I send within a reasonable period of time, addressing my question or concern. I do not need busy signals or hours long holds only to get cut off. I do not need answers to questions I did not ask, sent to me 9 months after the letter I sent was received in the DO or PSC. I cannot answer my clients’ questions until I get information only SSA can provide. I do not need incomprehensible notices with every other paragraph contradicting the one before it. Do your job at home, in the office or on the moon. I don’t care. Just do it. I know the rank and file didn’t create this problem but please be part of the solution and not part of the problem.
Telework is now a permanent part of life, both in much of private industry and the government. A huge improvement. We cannot and should not return to requiring people to commute to work 5 days a week.
The article is misleading, false, and denigrates government workers.
'Even if private-sector employers see benefits in allowing workers to maintain hybrid work arrangements, the standard for public servants is different." So it's fine for private sector employees to telework, but government workers should be forced to commute to the office 5 days a week.
Simply laughable. This article tells us a lot more about how the author feels about government workers, than it does about the efficiency of telework.
The government should be a model employer and should lead the way in helping employees balance their home and work lives.
Also to say that it costs the government money because the building is empty is illogical. The government would have to pay for existing buildings whether they are full of worker or not. Actually with telework the government can spend less on proving employees offices.
The easiest person to fire is the one that doesnt come into the office.
Clearly you haven’t worked for the government. No one is “easy” to fire. Especially true for those at home right now full time because they have pending reasonable accommodation requests with the agency.
So long as I only have to come into my SSA office one day per week.
I'm good with this present situation , with my teleworking from home four days per week.
But no more than once per week in the office, or I'm walking.
I'm a retired ALJ; I worked at home six days a month for the last ten years or so I was a judge. It worked for me; it would work for decision writers. Clerical people need to be in the hearing office, and they especially need to be in any other office they're assigned to. Hard enough to get them to do competent work when they're in the office, let alone when they aren't. A glut of lawyers gave us good writers; there were a lot of "old hands" around 20 years ago who managed other analytical work. However, we stopped getting impressive people in whatever preceded the millennial generation as high school and college failed to turn out people with reasoning ability (or a work ethic). The better rule is to bring everyone back.
"hobbles the ability of government officials to collaborate"
I don't know who they think collaborates, but I recall multiple times CR's were told by management NOT TO TALK TO CO-WORKERS about their cases.
When I started at SSA back in the dark ages, we had a small cohesive unit where we regularly talked to each other. As time went on, people retired, new people came in, management changed, and new CR's were told not to go to their mentors anymore.
I guess they're talking about management, not CR's.
It was very good to talk to fellow CRs. You may have a one in 20 years case that they are more familiar with and have processes recently. Crazy not to pool resources.
The situation is quite a lot like the problems that are really facing the nation as a whole. Everybody only wants what is best for themselves, regardless of the cost to others. My rights (also read as my desires, and if i want it then I have a right to it) outweigh the rights of others and supersede anything I don't agree with. That is why we had mask problems, that is why we have shootings, that is why the country is in disarray and splintering.
If you take a job, that is a public facing job, where your duties include meeting the public face to face, then that is your job. Nobody if forcing you to do it. You can leave any time you wish. You dont because of other factors, so dont blame the public for your personal decision and motivations. Sorry, your rights dont supersede others rights nor does the job have to change to meet your desire.
@ 8:07
I agree with you completely.
Which is why your logic also extends to the general public as well. If SSA changes how it does business, then you can’t complain because it doesn’t suit your personal needs. Just because someone prefers face-to-face service doesn’t mean it has to be offered.
Things change over time. You either find a way to aghast or you get left behind.
11:35 after two years SSA has proven it cannot meet the need of face to face and thus the numbers we are seeing seeking services now. SSA needs to figure out how to meet those needs, thus far they have failed the public completely.
I think that a 72 year old woman that needs documentation for getting Real ID problems straightened out should be forced to go online in a system she has no idea about and just figure out what she needs and how to get it. She doesnt deserve a face to face meeting with an employee. Let her get it online, we all know the online services are super easy to get set up, so intuitive they practically read your mind and never ever ever use words and phrases that are never used anywhere outside of the agency. You can easily clear up a flipped NUMI online by yourself with no contact to the agency.
A 76 year old man that is applying for LIHEAP Energy Assistance should go online and print his benefit letters and other eligibility documents, how dare he use the extremely valuable time of a SSA employee. I dont care that he doesnt have a computer or smart phone, wifi, or any of that. He needs to be able to take care of himself. He can use the library, train in how to do all of that himself, after all he is the one wanting even more assistance and if he cant do that maybe he should be in a long term care center instead of a Social Security waiting room.
Welcome to the future, welcome to the New Normal, good luck, it is all on you.
When did IRS stop sending forms out to everyone automatically? When did the post office stop delivering mail twice a day? Or when did federal employees stop having the option for paper checks? Life goes on and people adapt.
9:15 or die.
You kinda forget that part.
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