Ernst presses Small Business Association to move people from remote work

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is pressing the Small Business Association (SBA) to take action to move more federal workers back to the office from home work.

In a Wednesday letter, Ernst complained that the agency reported a 9 percent office occupancy rate last month, despite efforts to get more workers back to the office from remote work.

“The shockingly high vacancy rate at your headquarters is… concerning,” Ernst wrote in the letter.

The letter continues pushes from both the GOP and Biden administration to urge federal workers back to the office. Telework spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic and remains popular nationwide.

The senator described the costs of remote work as substantial and blamed federal workers’ unions for the popularity of remote work and other staffing issues.

“Across agencies, federal employee unions are fighting tooth and nail to stop agencies from forcing employees to return to work,” she said.

Studies have shown remote work can be better for employees and increase productivity due to a more comfortable environment and lack of commute. A study in August found that 89 percent of Americans prefer flexible work options, and 51 percent would change jobs to ensure they were available.

The prevalence of remote work also means office occupancy is near all-time lows, starving downtowns nationwide of business from office workers.

Ernst pressed the SBA on its relationship with its local of the American Federation of Government Employees. She said the agency does not properly report union worked hours — where employees get paid for work performed for their union’s operation.

She described the issue as an “unprecedented lack of transparency.”

“My role is to ensure your agency is properly utilizing remote work in ways which truly support small businesses in Iowa and across the United States — not simply because bureaucrats don’t want to return to the office,” she said.

The letter demands explanations on the agency’s return-to-work plans and information on its union local. It also requests the agency to consider plans to downsize office space, given low utilization rates.

“It should be all hands on deck over there!” Ernst said in a statement to The Hill. “I’ll keep pushing federal agencies to fill their halls with federal workers or sell off unused office space.”