Mike Bloomberg: Tax Money Is Being ‘Wasted’ on Remote Workers
Remote work might be popular among employees who like the flexibility and lower costs of working from home, but billionaire Mike Bloomberg is no fan of the trend. In a recent column for the Washington Post, the media titan and former New York City mayor said remote work “has gone on too long” and “excuses for allowing offices to sit empty should end, too.”
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He also pointed out that the “pandemic is over” — a reference to the rise in remote work that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, when lockdowns forced offices to close.
A 2022 Gallup survey found that more than half of U.S. workers (56%) described themselves as “remote capable,” meaning their jobs can be done from home. Of those workers, eight in 10 are either working hybrid jobs (part of the week at home and part on-site) or exclusively remotely. A separate AT&T study estimated that the hybrid work model will grow from 42% in 2021 to 81% in 2024, the FlexJobs website noted in a blog.
These trends probably won’t warm the heart of Bloomberg, who claims that because of remote work, tax money is being wasted on empty office space, and the public is getting worse service, Fortune reported. Empty space is a particular problem for federal government agencies.
Fortune cited a July report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office showing that federal agencies spend around $5 billion a year to lease office buildings, and an additional $2 billion on maintaining and operating offices regardless of the utilization rate. The report also found that 17 of 24 agencies analyzed used the sites less than 25% of the time.
“Six of these agencies — the Agriculture Department, the General Services Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Office of Personnel Management, the Small Business Administration and the Social Security Administration — recorded an average occupancy rate of less than 10 percent,” Bloomberg wrote in his WaPo column.
He also accused some agencies of “dragging their heels” even though the pandemic emergency is officially over.
“Some are trying to get credit for creating hybrid work arrangements while requiring employees to come in only a handful of days a month, while more and more private companies require people to be back in the office at least three days a week,” Bloomberg wrote.
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The problem of empty office space isn’t restricted to the public sector. As Fortune noted, a new report from workplace utilization specialists XY Sense found that private-sector office use is “faring just as badly.” In North America, the average utilization during the first quarter of 2023 was only 21% — about one-third lower than the average recorded across the rest of the globe.
Some economists have warned that empty offices could result in another run on the banks because of the high number of new office buildings that were financed on short-term loans but have no new leases to pay for the loans.
Bloomberg’s own media empire has 176 offices across the world, according to Fortune. Those buildings aren’t cheap, either — some cost more than $1 billion to build. Given Bloomberg’s own investment in office space, it’s hardly surprising that he wants his employees back on-site.
Over the past year, his Bloomberg media company has been asking employees to work in offices at least three days a week. In the fall, much of the company will move to four days a week.
“Our managers have seen the benefits of returning to in-person work, and we have heard about those benefits from their teams, too, especially from young people just starting their careers,” Bloomberg wrote. “When senior managers are not present to mentor and nurture junior staff members, it hurts their professional development and prospects for career growth — and the future of the organization, too.”
Now, he would like to see the public sector follow that lead.
“There’s no good reason why government workers have been so much slower than everyone else to get back to the office at least a few days a week,” Bloomberg wrote. “Taxpayers deserve immediate action and hard deadlines — and the better service and stronger capital city that will result.”
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