Remote Workers Face Uncertainty as Federal Agencies Cancel Work-From-Home Policies Without Updated Guidance

Thousands of federal employees who have been working remotely now face potential disruption as agencies move to eliminate remote work under a presidential directive issued earlier this year. The shift comes amid the cancellation of existing guidance that helped agencies evaluate how remote arrangements impacted their operations.

As of June 2024, more than 200,000 federal employees were working remotely—a status allowing them to work entirely offsite without regular visits to a government office. This represented approximately 9% of the federal workforce, with remote employees spread across every U.S. state and the District of Columbia. Many agencies credited remote work with boosting recruitment, particularly for hard-to-fill roles. Job postings allowing remote work attracted over seven times more applicants than those requiring in-person attendance.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which previously provided agencies with guidelines to assess the effects of remote work on mission outcomes and staffing, rescinded those instructions in August 2024. That decision came despite the continued presence of remote workers and made it more difficult for agencies to evaluate whether ending remote work will help or hinder performance.

While remote work helped agencies reduce office space usage from 2020 to 2024, several agencies have now halted those reductions as they reevaluate space needs under the return-to-office mandate. The directive, issued by President Donald Trump in January 2025, orders federal employees back to in-person work full time, with narrow exceptions for those with medical conditions, military or Foreign Service spouses, and other compelling circumstances.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended that OPM reissue guidance to help agencies understand the cost-benefit tradeoffs of remote work. OPM partially agreed with the recommendation but has yet to announce specific steps. Until then, agencies may struggle to assess whether ending remote work improves or hinders their missions.

Article by multiple contributors, based upon information from GAO press release GAO-25-107363, published June 17, 2025

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