Interim City Manager Jesús Garza’s directive that all City of Austin employees return to the office by the end of 2023 has drawn pushback, per reports from Austin-based media outlets.
Austin FOX affiliate KTBC reported that at least five employees protested the announcement on May 16, which Garza said in a memo is “imperative” to “ensure the public’s trust.”
One city worker told KTBC a policy that gives Garza the authority to phase out remote work doesn’t exist.
"It's frustrating. It's confusing,” Meira Vedros said in the report. “It's also explicitly not an actual policy. The policy, to my knowledge, has not been written yet. I just am left wondering who this benefits and I can't seem to find an answer. No one seems to know exactly who this is for."
Per Austin NBC affiliate KXAN, Garza’s memo stated city employees in managerial positions must work five days a week in person beginning early next month, while non-executive workers have until October to transition back to the office.
“We cannot completely do so if we are not present or responsive to their needs,” Garza wrote. “With this in mind, we must address the various department policies surrounding telework.”
Like nearly every sector and industry, the city was forced by COVID-19 in 2020 to have employees perform job duties from their residences.
Marna McLain, who works in the city’s information technology (IT) department, said she saved near a dozen hours weekly as a result of not braving Austin’s congested traffic, KXAN reported.
One Austin Energy employee told the station she bought a home “with an extra room” after she was promised her job was to be mostly remote.
KTBC reported that the University of Texas at Austin (UT) conducted a survey in 2022 which revealed a strong preference for hybrid work, or a combination of time at home and at the office.