By now I am sure you are familiar with DOGE – The Department of Government Efficiency – established by President Trump and run by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. The idea is to strip down our bloated federal government. They announced the first proposed policy in the Wall Street Journal, and it is exciting. It states that if you want to work for us, the American people, you must return to your office. I could not be happier.
I have been skeptical about all this work-from-home done by employees. There are so many distractions at home and so many ways to avoid doing work that I believe it is difficult for most people to stay focused as they would in an office. Additionally, there is a lack of comradery and common purpose co-workers share.
I have had discussions with many businesspeople about how telecommuting works for them. Some attorneys have told me they have seen no loss of productivity among their staff. They have defined cases and deadlines. They should be able to tell if someone is backsliding fairly easily or is being distracted in their home work environment.
I have one client who has a technology-based company with around 50 employees. They have people highly capable with technology and are very project driven with deadlines. They have basically abandoned their centralized office space. It has enhanced the lives of the operational heads of the company, allowing them greater interface with their families while not lessening their responsibilities and time requirements. It has worked for them, but it makes me wonder whether it would work for them if there were 500 employees.
I don’t believe the federal government operates anywhere close to the manner in which private companies operate. They cannot possibly have staff engaged in the same manner with the same requirements and standards with remote work. Let us start with that it is virtually impossible to fire a federal employee under current standards. What exact standards are they being held to without daily supervision?
Then there is the proper technology to be able to work remotely. In addition, there are security concerns regarding information that goes with so many departments.
The department of the federal government with which I work most often is the most important one and interfaces with more Americans than any other. That is the Internal Revenue Service. It is the most important because without collecting revenue the other departments cannot operate. It is essential the IRS provides quality service because otherwise it creates a poor impression to American citizens about how their government is being operated.
Let me say that the people with whom I engage in the audit and appeals office are doing the same standard of job performance they were doing before the pandemic. Most of them have a large caseload which distracts them from whatever case you are working on with them, and that has not changed. I have seen some slowdown from them, but it is not of an earthshattering nature.
Letter correspondence and phone answering are the most crucial tasks that people working remotely are not equipped to handle. The vast majority of interactions with citizens are by one or both of those methods, and the IRS is not prepared to handle those matters remotely.
I have had many discussions with staff about their inadequate computer technology that never seems to be upgraded correctly.
A recent experience was emblematic of the problem, and I believe was quite ordinary in the current structure. After contacting a practitioner’s hotline, they told me that I had to call a regular line. Dejectedly, I set about contacting them. I called virtually every day for three weeks, twice a day. If the message told me the phone would be answered in 30-60 minutes, I knew it would not, and I started the cycle again. I called and got a message that I would get a callback and to provide my number. Finally. I did and was excited that I might be resolving my client’s problem.
When I received the call back, it was quite apparent that the person was working remotely. Her computer was not working well, and I could not hear her adequately. I later found out through a supervisor in another department the phone works through the employee’s home computer tied to the IRS. The technology was terrible, and she finally disconnected. I had just wasted three weeks.
I have no idea why these people are not working in their regular government office. I have read more than once that those huge buildings in Washington DC are fairly vacant. I am certain that people calling the Agriculture Department or EPA trying to get aid are having similar experiences working with their federal employees.
It will be good to remind the federal workforce who works for whom and get them back to a real workload.
