California state workers are warning Gov. Gavin Newsom could face a “mass exodus” after ordering employees back to the office four days a week beginning July 1.
The looming mandate has sparked backlash from workers who say they have successfully kept the Golden State running under hybrid schedules since the COVID-19 pandemic, KCRA3 reported.
“I feel like there will be a mass exodus. I feel like the state needs to be ready for a mass exodus,” Anica Walls, president of SEIU Local 1000 — which represents state workers in Sacramento — told the outlet.
“We have individuals who have been teetering retirement, who look at this 4-days a week when they have been doing their job efficiently in a hybrid schedule will probably send them into a retirement,” she added.
The fight over Newsom’s order has grown so heated that a billboard along a Sacramento-area highway is warning motorists of future traffic jams tied to the policy.
State workers argue the governor’s sweeping mandate ignores years of successful remote and hybrid work arrangements.
“Since COVID, we have been working and doing the jobs and being efficient and doing the jobs to keep California running,” Walls said.
“This mandate, as overarching as it is, does not give departments the space to bring back our workers as needed.”
Exactly which departments are struggling with office space — and how the Newsom administration plans to address those issues — remains unclear.
At a May budget presentation, Newsom acknowledged concerns surrounding the return-to-office order but defended the benefits of bringing employees back together in person.
“Change is hard. I’m empathetic,” he said.
“Everyone has unique criteria, circumstance. We try to accommodate for that. I mean, four days a week, nice to see you again. I mean, would be nice to see you again, nice to see you again, nice to run into you in the hall, nice to develop a relationship, nice not feel so alone.”
Supporters of the mandate argue it will benefit both workplace culture and local businesses.
“There is a lot of value in bringing people back to the office. The ebb and flow. The next generation of workforce. There is a value in experiencing by observation. Even me as the CEO, if I wasn’t here every day, there are things I wouldn’t notice or pick up or see in the office,” Robert Heidt, president of the Sacramento Metro Chamber, told the outlet.
“I can’t imagine that we can sustain an acceptable level of business and commerce with everyone remote. It just doesn’t make sense,” he added.
State workers flooded committee hearings at the Capitol this week, advocating for AB 1729 — a bill that would require state agencies to provide telework options or justify why specific positions must be performed in person.
“I have heard from so many state workers from even the Bay Area all up and down the state who said this is the thing that matters the most to them,” said Democratic Assemblyman Alex Lee — who authored the measure.
“They don’t want to move. They love their job, but they don’t, they aren’t willing to move after working 4-5 years in state service.”
The proposal would also require the state to create an online dashboard showing how much taxpayer money is being saved through telework.
Lee and SEIU have estimated remote work saves California up to $225 million annually.
When asked about concerns that state employees could misuse telework arrangements, Walls defended union members.
“I have no doubt that our members are in the spaces they need to be and to successfully produce and do the job that they are assigned to do,” she said.