California and Texas Are The Latest States To Push For The End Of Remote Work For Federal Employees 

March 10, 2025
Despite research proving that in-office requirements make employees less productive, states are pushing efficiency as the reason behind the change.
If you are a federal employee in California or Texas, remote work life could be ending as state leaders are pushing for workers to return to the office, The Associated Press reports. 
Democratic and Republican-led states are mimicking policies handed down by President Donald Trump, who mandated that still-employed federal employees return to the office full-time after years of hybrid or remote work. Several Fortune 500 companies like Amazon and AT&T have followed suit. 
Federal workers in California are mandated to return to office life at least four days a week starting July 1 under the direction of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who says it’s about productivity and collaboration. Employees like Jonah Paul, who has to take the train two days a week to the office in the capital city of Sacramento, aren’t thrilled about the change. He says he’s lucky if he is home by 7 p.m. with the heavy commute.
He said, “People have been really upset” over the order. “The governor’s executive order kind of blindsided everybody,” the president of the Sacramento chapter of SEIU Local 1000 said. 
Despite research proving that in-office requirements make employees less productive, state leaders in Missouri, Ohio, and Indiana — mainly with GOP leadership — push the efficiency narrative as the reason behind the change. 
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott pushed the narrative of guaranteeing “taxpayer dollars are being utilized efficiently” in an email federal employees received in early March 2025, according to NBC DFW. “Any remote work policies must ensure taxpayer dollars are being utilized efficiently,” Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris explained.
“With remote federal workers returning to the office where possible, it’s important that state agencies ensure they do the same.”
While over 50% of California’s 224,000 full-time employees, such as highway patrol officers, have already returned to in-person work, some employees aren’t used to the change. Experts say the change will not likely lead to mass resignations, but companies and agencies shouldn’t count it out. UCLA Professor of Urban Planning Chris Tilly, who studies labor markets, said states will have to develop a heightened reason for employees to return.
“States are going to have to increase salaries or fatten up the benefits package in other ways if they’re asking people to forgo this flexibility,” Tilly said. 
Paul and Texas state employee Rolf Straubhaar said another concern is space and those with medical needs not receiving the exceptions they need, adding to reasons why some employees may opt out. “There’s a physical space constraint that makes this order even more absurd,” Paul said. 
“It’s not really realistic to force everyone to come back.”
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