Private-sector workers are teleworking more than their federal counterparts, according to a new report released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The CBO analysis shows that 22% of federal workers usually teleworked in 2022, compared to 25% of those in the private sector. Telework was also more common in urban areas and among more educated workers in both sectors. The rate of telework in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, for example, was 40% for private-sector workers and 38% for federal workers.
Among some occupations, like in computer and mathematical occupations, federal employees are much less likely to telework than their private sector counterparts – 37% for federal employees and 56% for private-sector workers.
The CBO said workers are willing to trade lower pay for more telework opportunities, so less ability to telework might have negatively affected the federal government’s ability to recruit and retain employees.
“Less teleworking overall among federal workers than their private-sector counterparts might have slightly reduced the appeal of working for the federal government in 2022,” said the CBO. “Limited evidence indicates that U.S. workers would be willing to give up about 8 percent of their salary, on average, to work from home about half the time. Other research has found that the ability to telework increased employee retention at a large technology firm.”
Anti-telework lawmakers have been demonizing federal teleworkers since the pandemic, and some of them were in for a surprise when Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Rob Shriver, citing the CBO report, told them at a recent House hearing on OPM oversight that federal workers actually telework less than their private-sector counterparts.
“They are working while teleworking. They are working from home,” Shriver tried to assure a lawmaker who questioned his testimony. “And what we saw in a recent CBO study is that private-sector workers are spending more time working at home than their federal counterparts.”
Shriver added that during the pandemic, federal employees were working on a maximum telework footing, except for the 50 plus percent that had to continue showing up in the workplace.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz from Florida showed up with a CBO report chart showing private-sector workers are teleworking more than federal employees. He reiterated that fact and made sure his colleagues got their information right.
“The private sector is outpacing us in teleworking! Do you think my colleagues should file a resolution of disapproval of the private sector because of all this teleworking that the private sector is doing?” he asked Shriver. “So that attack about all this teleworking that’s federal employees is really misinformation. We’re actually keeping pace.”
Teleworkers are indeed working. An OPM report released December last year highlighted it.
“In their qualitative responses to the fiscal year 2022 telework data call, agencies reported observing higher levels of work-life balance, increased productivity due to fewer distractions and disruptions, increased performance reflected in annual reviews and improved management practices to ensure accountability and monitor employee performance,” OPM wrote. “These data points are supported by 2022 FEVS data showing that both employees and managers overwhelmingly agreed (more than 84%) that their work units were producing high-quality work and meeting their customers’ needs.”
Recent numbers from the Department of Education also confirmed that productivity increased when employees worked from home in 2022.
“In 2022, we gave out nearly $70 billion in grants. That’s up from $46 billion in 2019. No one is saying we haven’t been productive. We’ve resolved nearly 17,000 [civil rights complaints]. We’ve forgiven $13 billion in student loans. I can keep going,” Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten told employees at a town hall.
In addition, the agency’s flexible remote work plan allowed the agency to save nearly $9 million in rent annually.
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