[GVIrish]

The federal government certainly is not adopting remote work as much as they could, but this OpEd is a bit off base.

For starters, there are a lot more federal agencies embracing remote work since the pandemic. From the people in my network working as government employees or contractors, I'd say more than half have more remote work options that they had before, with some going fully remote. There are still stubborn leaders and organizations but remote work has made major inroads in the last few years.

The fact remains that some jobs can't go full remote as a function of security clearance requirements. It's laughable to say, "...so long as the employee has access to a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) in their location," as if SCIF's are readily available around the country, and that somehow it's easy to get a seat in one. If you work for one three letter agency, you can't just sign up for a hotdesk at another three letter agency's SCIF.

The market is shifting in the DC Metro where even cleared jobs are allowing some remote work, but it'll still take some time for organizations to change.

[throwntoday]

One problem is government buildings employ many other people like security, maintenance, repair, etc. People commuting into cities spend money at businesses within the city. It's easy for us to say remote work is better but it will come at the cost of many businesses failing (see: SF)

[watwut]

> People commuting into cities spend money at businesses within the city.

People working from home are spending money where they live. I do not think it is somehow superior when all business is concentrated in one place rather then scattered around.