Small Change in Top State Administrator’s Real Estate Memo Shows Remote Work’s Stamina

State agencies’ offices are mostly empty. And unlike private employers, the state backs away from even a suggestion employees should return to those offices.

Workers at the Oregon State Capitol. (Blake Benard)
By Nigel Jaquiss

Berri Leslie, director of the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, told state agency directors Oct. 28 that she wanted managers of agencies with hybrid employees (who mostly work from home) “to establish in-office work (with meaningful engagement) approximately 1-4 days each month.”

But Leslie then reissued the memo Oct. 31, with one small but noticeable change: She deleted the return-to-work instruction. That raised questions about who demanded the change and why.

Spokespeople for two of the state’s largest public employee unions, Service Employees International Union and Oregon AFSCME, say they had nothing to do with the change. Gov. Tina Kotek’s spokeswoman says the governor, who is Leslie’s boss, also had nothing to do with it. “The edit was made because that recommendation needs more socializing with agency directors and their teams before it becomes part of an official recommendation,” says DAS spokeswoman Bryanna Duke.

Like many employers, the state of Oregon loosened restrictions on its more than 45,000 employees during the pandemic. Leslie provided some context for that in both versions of her memo. “Approximately 45% of state employees are designated remote or hybrid, and most agencies are using about 25% or less of their offices,” she wrote.

Clearly, that is a highly inefficient use of resources. But the state negotiated working arrangements with employees, and it would be a challenge to convince them to return to state office space.

“Recalibrating our office footprint will take time and patience, and will require all of us to work together through a cultural pivot to new office space norms,” Leslie wrote to agency directors. “Thank you in advance for your partnership.”

Many private companies, which also let their people work from home during the pandemic, are taking a different tack: Some of the largest employers in the Northwest, including Amazon, Nike and most recently, PacifiCorp, are ordering their staffs back to the office. The Oregonian reported today that the utility, whose headquarters is in the Lloyd District, wants employees back at their desks five days a week starting Jan. 6.

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