Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Utah state agencies are reducing remote work, requiring office attendance two to three days weekly.
- Gov. Spencer Cox's administration is reassessing telework policies, balancing flexibility with in-person collaboration benefits.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's state government launched a pilot program in the fall of 2018 aimed at encouraging what was known as telecommuting to save money on new building construction and leased office space. Within months, it was such a success that Gov. Spencer Cox, then lieutenant governor, declared himself "a televangelist for telework."
That fervor only increased after the COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020 made working from home a default for employees everywhere. Utah was seen as well-positioned to handle the transition from state employees reporting to an office every day to handling government business from their homes.
Yet over the past year, Utah state agencies are pulling back on remote work, telling employees, "It is time for us to move to a more sustainable model of teleworking." Many workers have been told they must come into the office at least two days a week, while supervisors are expected to be there at least three.
What triggered the shift in the state's approach to remote work is not clear.
Asked about the governor's position on remote work by state employees and whether he eventually will expect state workers to be back in the office full time, Cox spokesman Robert Carroll indicated more changes could be coming.
"The pandemic dramatically accelerated the adoption of widespread remote work. We know that our employees value the flexibility of remote work and we want to retain some of that flexibility. We also know that there is a great benefit to the state and the people we serve when employees are able to collaborate, problem solve and team build together and in person," Carroll said in a statement.
"As the workplace continues to stabilize from the pandemic, and as the (governor's) second term begins, we have an opportunity to reevaluate the way we manage our state workforce to ensure that we are providing the highest level of service to all Utahns," the statement concluded.
Looking to 'balance' more in-office work
Officials from the state Department of Government Operations that includes the Division of Human Resources Management see the pendulum swinging back towards working in the office.
"I think what we're trying to do is find a balance," said Marilee Richins, the government operations department's deputy director. Richins, who ran the telework pilot project, said state agencies "have missed the collaboration and the value that comes from employees experiencing each other in person."
Still, the days when most state employees work solely in the office "are gone," she said, noting a lesson learned from the pilot program is that "it's very difficult to have just blanket policies" when it comes to remote work. "I think teleworking in some form is here to stay."
Exactly what that may end up looking like remains to be seen.
We know that our employees value the flexibility of remote work and we want to retain some of that flexibility.
–Robert Carroll, spokesman for Gov. Spencer Cox
"I wouldn't say we're saying no" to remote work, Richins said. "We're trying to get all the benefits that happen when you interact in person with your colleagues and we're trying to get the benefits and the job satisfaction that comes when you get to work at home. We want it all."
Marvin Dodge, the department's executive director, said the state is following the private sector's lead.
"Certainly, we're paying attention to the world around us. Because even many of the tech firms have brought their folks back several days a week," Dodge said, adding, "that's triggered lot of conversation on the state side with my cabinet colleagues and I for bringing folks back, not necessarily full time in all instances but at least to have in the office a couple of days a week."
State agency heads are also feeling pressure to keep offices filled with employees so as to not lose out as a new master plan is being developed for allocating space in state-owned buildings like the State Office Building in Taylorsville as well as leased facilities. Today, giving up space is seen as limiting their future growth.
Remote work seen as 'a privilege, not an entitlement'
"Telework is a privilege, not an entitlement," according to a list of frequently asked questions for employees provided by the government operations department. Those FAQs warns that long-term decisions about state office space are being made now, and "if we give up all the space currently available, we tie the hands" of future bosses and employees.
That tone is very different from the voluntary "Utah Works" pilot program, described in a 2019 progress report out of the governor's budget office as modernizing the workplace by "managing performance over presence" by setting a minimum of three days a week of working from home.
The expectation then, state employees were told, was for "remote workers to be out of the office a majority of the time."
In July 2019, the pilot was touting a 23% increase in productivity from the 135 employees chosen to participate and Cox announced another 2,555 state government workers, about 30% of those eligible, would be able to work remotely within 18 months. The then-lieutenant governor saw the program as a way to help meet the administration's goal of adding rural jobs .
However, by the time January 2021 rolled around, the world was immersed in the pandemic and approximately 40% of state employees were working remotely. Soon after being sworn in as governor, Cox issued an executive order requiring all state agencies to review every job "to determine whether it can be performed remotely."
Then, the governor's push for remote work went beyond dealing with the deadly virus.
Cox cited a long list of benefits, including curbing commuting's significant contribution to poor air quality and road conditions, supporting families by limiting the time and money state employees spend getting to and from work and anticipated cost savings from needing less office space.
