Federal workers may have to return to the office

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - The White House is once again calling on agencies to return employees to in person work.

For Dina Daniel, there is only one thing she has to say to all the people who have been working from home since the pandemic, "You need to come back to the office. I will not be able to stay in business long like this."

Daniel owns Fava Pot, a small cafe on M Street, in the heart of downtown's Golden Triangle.

"In D.C. with no federal employees, no one is working. It's killing the business. And not only as a cafe or a restaurant, but as I'm telling you, security, cleaning people, Uber driver, you name it," Daniel explained.

Not alone

Daniel is not alone in wanting workers to return to their offices, Mayor Muriel Bowser has been calling for feds to return since January, and now, the President's Chief of Staff Jeff Zients has sent an email to Cabinet members, instructing them to begin bringing workers back into the office.

In an email first reported by Axios, 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."

According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, more the majority of federal agencies headquarters are only at 25% capacity, and many of these offices downtown sit empty as well.

"Office occupancy in this neighborhood still hovers around 45%," said Andrew Huff of the Golden Triangle BID.

Skeptical

And while the president, the mayor and small business owners want to see federal workers return, the union representing many of those workers see work from home as part of the future of how government works, saying in a statement, "Agencies should take advantage of the collective bargaining process and labor-management partnerships to design hybrid working arrangements that allow both for meaningful in-person as well as remote and telework options."

It's not just business owners and landlords hurt by the empty offices, taxpayers will be feeling it soon. The district's Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee estimates the district will face a budget shortfall over the next three years of $464 million.

For Daniel, she's skeptical as this is not the first time the White House has talked about returning federal workers to their offices.

"It has been challenging, very challenging...Not only for me as a business owner, but for my staff, for my landlord, for the Uber driver, for everyone who works in the city," Daniel explained.