Republicans in Congress, bolstered by a 41-page report from the House Oversight Committee, have unleashed a wave of criticism against federal telework policies. Their claims, aired at a Jan. 15 congressional hearing titled “The Stay-at-Home Federal Workforce,” portray telework as a costly indulgence that prioritizes the convenience of federal employees over the needs of taxpayers.
Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) accused the Biden administration of wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on vacant office buildings and fostering inefficiency across government agencies. These critiques have been echoed by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), along with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the leaders of the incoming Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, who have championed a dramatic rollback of telework policies under the Trump administration.
While these allegations make for strong political soundbites, they crumble under scrutiny. Contrary to the narrative of waste and dysfunction, telework has been shown to increase productivity, reduce costs and improve employee satisfaction in both the federal and private sectors. Attempts to dismantle telework ignore the wealth of data proving its value and threaten to disrupt essential government services while imposing significant costs on taxpayers.
At the heart of the Republican critique is the claim that telework has left federal offices empty, wasting billions of dollars on unused real estate. Comer’s report, ominously titled “The Lights Are On, But Everyone Is at Home,” paints a grim picture of government buildings sitting vacant while federal workers purportedly shirk their duties at home. And Ernst claimed that only 6 percent of federal employees work in person full-time.
These claims are contradicted by a May 2024 report from the White House Office of Management and Budget, which found that more than half of federal employees are not eligible for telework at all because their jobs require in-person work, such as inspecting facilities, managing public lands, or delivering healthcare.
For the federal employees who are eligible, the report showed that over 61 percent of their work hours are spent in the office, reflecting the prevalence of hybrid work arrangements rather than full-time remote work.
Far from abandoning their responsibilities, federal employees returned to in-person work more quickly than their counterparts in the private sector. The Congressional Budget Office found that federal agencies have maintained significant on-site staffing levels since the height of the pandemic, with more than 80 percent of federal work hours completed in person.
Moreover, in agencies with higher rates of telework, productivity has increased. For example, the Social Security Administration reported a 6 percent boost in productivity in 2024, despite staffing levels that are at a 50-year low. These findings directly undermine Republican assertions that telework is incompatible with effective government operations.
Much of the criticism surrounding telework has focused on underutilized federal office space, with Ernst claiming that telework has rendered buildings obsolete. However, the problem lies not with telework itself but with outdated real estate practices. Many agencies are already consolidating office space and reducing their real estate footprints to reflect modern workplace needs.
The General Services Administration estimates that optimizing office space for telework could save more than $1 billion annually in rent and maintenance costs. Selling or repurposing vacant federal buildings could yield billions more in revenue, offering a tangible benefit to taxpayers. Ironically, eliminating telework would make it harder to achieve these savings, as agencies would be forced to maintain or expand office capacity to accommodate an in-person workforce.
Beyond cost savings, telework has proven to be a powerful tool for improving recruitment, retention, and employee satisfaction. A November 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office evaluated federal telework programs and found that they have expanded talent pools and reduced turnover.
The IRS, for example, reported that telework allowed it to attract skilled customer service representatives from areas far beyond its physical office locations. Similarly, agencies such as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services noted a significant increase in applicant interest for roles offering telework flexibility. These findings align with broader trends in the private sector, where hybrid work models have been shown to increase employee engagement and reduce attrition.
The Republican push to dismantle telework is dangerous for taxpayers. Proposals from DOGE to mandate a full return to the office, framed as a cost-saving measure, are likely to have the opposite effect. Federal salaries account for just 4.5 percent of the government’s $6.1 trillion annual budget, and mass resignations triggered by rigid return-to-office policies would create costly operational disruptions.
Agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration rely on specialized expertise that cannot be easily replaced. Recruiting and training new employees to fill these gaps would impose significant costs on taxpayers, while reduced capacity would delay critical services like processing veterans’ benefits or responding to disasters.
These inefficiencies would ripple across the economy, affecting industries reliant on federal oversight. Delays in regulatory approvals, audits, and infrastructure projects would create financial losses for businesses and state governments alike. Meanwhile, taxpayers would bear the burden of rebuilding government capacity after the exodus of experienced federal workers. Instead of saving money, the elimination of telework would increase the overall cost of government operations while undermining the quality of public services.
Policymakers have a clear choice. They can follow the evidence and embrace telework as a tool for modernizing the federal workforce, or they can cling to outdated notions of productivity that prioritize appearances over outcomes. Telework offers a proven path to reducing costs, improving efficiency, and enhancing employee satisfaction, all while maintaining high standards of accountability. Rather than dismantle telework, DOGE should focus on leveraging its benefits to create a more agile and effective public sector.
The attacks on telework are rooted in ideology rather than evidence. The alignment between Republican criticisms and DOGE’s agenda suggests that their true goal is not to improve government efficiency but to shrink the federal workforce and weaken unions. This approach would come at a steep price for taxpayers, businesses, and the broader economy.
The data is clear: Telework works. By rejecting partisan rhetoric and focusing on evidence-based policies, policymakers can ensure that the federal workforce continues to meet the challenges of the 21st century while delivering value to the public.
Gleb Tsipursky, Ph.D., serves as the CEO of the hybrid work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts and authored the best-seller “Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams.“
