President Donald Trump’s push to end the federal government’s pandemic-era remote work experiment has been declared a major success.
New data show that tens of thousands of bureaucrats have either returned to the office or exited government altogether.
When Trump returned to the White House on January 20, he made clear that the era of federal employees working from home was over.
In a Day One memo to agency heads, Trump directed them to “take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis.”
The president later told reporters:
“We think a very substantial number of people will not show up to work, and therefore our government will get smaller and more efficient.
“And that’s what we’ve been looking to do for many, many decades, frankly.”
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, as of June 2024, more than 200,000 federal employees were still working remotely.
This figure accounted for about 9% of the federal workforce.
In addition, Gallup survey data showed that a staggering 61% of federal employees were in hybrid work models in the final quarter of 2024.
Now, a new Gallup survey of 542 federal employees in “remote-capable” jobs confirms the dramatic shift:
46% of federal employees who could work from home are now working fully in-office, compared to just 17% at the end of last year.
The percentage of hybrid employees has fallen to 28%, down 33 points in less than a year.
“In Washington, the hybrid era is over,” Gallup’s Ryan Pendell said.
The change highlights a sharp contrast between the federal government work culture under Trump and trends in the private sector.
While the federal workforce has largely returned to in-person duties, Gallup found that among full-time remote-capable American employees nationwide, only 21% are back on-site full-time.
That’s down dramatically from pre-pandemic levels, when more than 60% of employees worked in-office full-time in 2019.
Today, a majority of U.S. workers, 51%, remain in hybrid arrangements.
Trump’s aggressive return-to-office order has not only forced bureaucrats back to their desks but has also led to a voluntary downsizing of the federal government, fulfilling one of his long-standing promises to reduce Washington’s bloated bureaucracy.
Despite criticism from academics, union officials, and the media, Trump’s move has proven effective.
The federal workforce now stands in stark contrast to the private sector, signaling that under Trump’s leadership, the government is moving toward leaner, more accountable operations.
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