Trump admin wants hundreds of thousands of federal workers to be ready to telework full time

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Politics

Trump administration wants hundreds of thousands of federal workers to be ready to telework full time

By Lisa Rein
March 10, 2020 at 11:10 p.m. EDT

The Trump administration is racing to develop contingency plans that would allow hundreds of thousands of employees to work remotely full time, an extreme scenario to limit the coronavirus that would test whether the government can carry out its mission from home offices and kitchen tables.

The Office of Personnel Management, which oversees policy for the workforce of 2.1 million, has urged agency heads in recent days to “immediately review” their telework policies, sign paperwork with employees laying out their duties, issue ­laptops and grant access to computer networks.

The administration has not issued a widespread mandate, but some offices already have acted. The Securities and Exchange Commission late Monday became the first federal agency in Washington to clear 2,400 employees from its headquarters after discovering that an employee might be infected.

On Tuesday, the International Trade Administration started sending staff home to self-quarantine if they have traveled out of the country. The State Department told its staff to set up emergency teleconference drills — and alternate who comes into the office to use classified systems to ensure that colleagues only gather in small groups, according to an internal memo.

The virus’s fast spread led many private companies weeks ago to send their staffs home to work remotely. But some corners of the federal government, the country’s largest employer, are only now confronting what could be an unprecedented shift to how they serve the public — for weeks or even months.

Close to half the federal workforce was eligible to telework when President Trump took office, on average one or two days a week, for snow days or sporadically. But few did it full time. Then the Trump administration scaled back working from home as a regular practice at multiple large agencies.

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Sarah Kaplan and Missy Ryan contributed to this report.

Lisa Rein
Lisa Rein covers federal agencies and the management of government in the Trump adminstration. At The Washington Post, she has written about the federal workforce; state politics and government in Annapolis, and in Richmond; local government in Fairfax County, Va. and the redevelopment of Washington and its neighborhoods. Follow https://twitter.com/Reinlwapo

[LaurenOlimina]

1. Boris and Natasha must be salivating with glee.

"The Office of Personnel Management, which oversees policy for the workforce of 2.1 million, has urged agency heads in recent days to “immediately review” their telework policies, sign paperwork with employees laying out their duties, issue ­laptops and grant access to computer networks."

The phishing attacks will be numerous.

[Girard442]

2. Yeah, it's going to be a hoot, flipping burgers and changing tires from your laptop at home.

[SoCalNative]

4. Robots

will eventually take the place of those workers. Not to worry.

[33taw]

3. Considering the state of some of their IT infrastructure they may need some upgrades before

that happens on a large scale.