More than one year ago, President Joe Biden's administration called for more in-person work at US federal agencies. Many of them communicated that returning to the office would cultivate stronger collaboration, productivity, efficiency, culture, trust, and interpersonal connections. However, more than half of federal workers said senior leadership did not adequately explain why employees had to return to the office. That's according to a recent Federal News Network survey of more than 6,300 federal employees regarding their perspectives on return-to-office changes.

For context, 64 percent of respondents work on a hybrid schedule, 30 percent work fully remote, and 6 percent work entirely in person.

Federal employees reported difficulties with finding the right type of working space—or finding enough space at all, because many federal offices have limited or no physical spaces to host team meetings or events. One of the respondents refers to the environment as "cubicle city." Nevertheless, opinions are even. About the same number of federal employees found the physical office space either completely sufficient, somewhat sufficient, or insufficient.

Workers also said the cubicle-style layout in older federal buildings is distracting, as they often hear colleagues' conversations, calls, and meetings. Further, more than half of those surveyed said their ability to work in peace in person is insufficient.

Similar complaints in other sectors may be why US companies' return-to-office mandates have stalled. According to Flex Index's Flex Report Q4 2023, the average structured hybrid company requires employees to be in the office two or three days per week. That's been consistent since the beginning of 2023. The report also notes that almost one-third of US companies don't require employees to go into the office at all.

Practical concerns such as space aside, return-to-office announcements have affected how federal employees view leadership. Less than 5 percent of Federal News Network respondents said a return to the office made them feel more positive about senior leadership, while the rest said in-person work gave them either a negative view of senior leadership or that their opinion was unchanged.