President Joe Biden’s administration is struggling to get government employees to return to working in the office, Axios reported on Thursday.
The government employees are declining to work in the office to the point where White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients is pleading and bothering Biden’s Cabinet secretaries to compel workers to return, according to Axios. Just about half of Biden’s Cabinet agencies have met the White House’s targets for getting back to in-person work by January. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Herrell, House Republicans Introduce Bill To Ensure Federal Workers Return To the Office)
Next year, hoping for a more in-person celebration of Black History Month at @WhiteHouse. For now, congrats to the team on this amazing digital piece of an incredible performance. https://t.co/rlHmdEvOnL
— Jeff Zients (@WHCOS) March 1, 2021
Zients has been holding lunches and visiting agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and Energy Department to push them to meet the in-person work targets, according to Axios. The Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Agency for International Development are two of the agencies that have met their goals of working five out of 10 days in-person, while many other agencies have not, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The amount of people taking the Metro in D.C. still lags over 40% behind its level before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Axios.
Zients sent a memo to Biden’s Cabinet in August regarding the importance of returning to the office, directing cabinet officials to take drastic actions, according to Axios.
“We are returning to in-person work because it is critical to the well-being of our teams and will enable us to deliver better results for the American people,” Zients wrote. “As we look towards the fall, and with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, your agencies will be implementing increases in the amount of in-person work for your team. This is a priority of the President — and I am looking to each of you to aggressively execute this shift in September and October.”
Over 80% of surveyed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees stated they would experience “personal hardships” if they had to return to the office, according to a summary of the survey’s results. About 66% of respondents stated they would consider leaving the EPA if remote work flexibility diminished.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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