Texas employees say return-to-office policy will make workers quit – and services will suffer

Ashley is the first to admit she isn't a rocket scientist. But she got pretty damn close.

Before she worked as a state employee, the nuclear physicist worked 11-hour days at the SpaceX plant in McGregor, making sure rocket engines didn't explode upon ignition. She said she knows how Elon Musk runs a company.

"They chew up and spit out people who get burnt out by their demanding hours and timelines," said Ashley, who asked that KUT not use her full name for fear of retaliation.

After she had a baby, Ashley wasn't able to balance 50- or 60-hour work weeks with taking care of a newborn. Eventually, she was shown the door.

Then, she found a "shining light" – a remote job at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in Austin that would allow her to take care of her child in Waco and, possibly, have another within a year or so.

But just a few weeks into her job, Gov. Greg Abbott directed state agencies to phase out hybrid work "as soon as practicable.”

Now, scores of state workers are grappling with how this will affect their lives after years of working from home – and whether they're at risk of losing their jobs.

'Sit and wait'

Ashley said she's heard nothing from her bosses about whether she will have to go into the office as TCEQ phases in the policy. The four-hour commute on top of a 9-hour workday on top of taking care of a 2-year-old would simply be unworkable, she said. And child care costs would be around $1,500 a month.

"It's hard enough to afford having a kid and [keeping] your career moving, especially as a young mom," Ashley said. "To have this changed ... I don't know what to do other than sit and wait."

For workers who can make a commute back to work, there are more fundamental issues.

A Texas Department of Transportation employee who also wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation said the agency has already encountered a problem at its Austin headquarters: space.

She said people were scrambling to find workspaces this week, with some working at cafeteria tables or in small conference rooms.

KUT spoke to a half-dozen state workers with the Department of Transportation, the Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Workforce Commission who said their offices couldn’t accommodate workers coming back.

Those agencies did not provide a comment to KUT.

State employees had been working remotely without issue long before the pandemic. So Abbott's order came as a shock – especially to employees who need child care and those who took these jobs because they could work from home.

"I can already see the morale slipping," the TxDOT staffer said.

By the numbers

In a statement last month, the governor's press secretary said the intent of the return-to-office policy was to "ensure taxpayer dollars are being utilized efficiently." But a recent survey found 80 of 96 state agencies surveyed had seen a net benefit from remote-work policies, as well as millions in savings.

• The Department of Health and Human Services estimates it'll save nearly $8 million by closing out 10 office leases by the end of the year.
• The Department of Motor Vehicles said its remote work policies allowed it to pause development on a $26 million facility, along with a $25 million parking garage.
• The Texas Workforce Commission saved $930,000 last year after it closed leases for office space. Nearly 77% of the agency's staff works some form of remote work, with a third being entirely remote.

According to a study from left-leaning think tank Every Texan, remote policies have also helped slow down attrition – which reached a 30-year high in 2023.

A survey of 6,500 state employees found two-thirds of them considered leaving their jobs within the last year because of low pay or understaffing. Amanda Posson with Every Texan said remote work has helped agencies retain employees and ending it could cause more people to quit.

"It doesn't make sense given the situation that that we're in," she said. "It's very curious and extremely dire that Gov. Abbott would revoke one of the few retention tools that the state has to maintain its workforce."

'Fire that person!'

For Ashley, there's still the Elon Musk of it all.

She wouldn't have found her TCEQ job without being let go by SpaceX. Now, she feels Texas is mirroring Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

If she leaves TCEQ, Ashley's backup plan would be working for the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. But that agency could also face cuts at the hands of Musk and DOGE.

"The alternative job from the one I just got kicked out of at SpaceX is to go work for the government who he is now firing people from and pointing fingers and saying, 'Fire that person!'" she said. "So, it's horrifying to watch my whole career be dictated by one man who wasn't elected."

Ashley said she's hopeful the Texas Legislature will clarify the state's return-to-work policies this session.

The TxDOT staffer said forcing people to come into the office could lead to resignations – and state services would suffer.

"It's happening to all the agencies, whether you're state or federal," she said. "And I think it's just a matter of time before .. we'll lose some folks."

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