WASHINGTON (7News) — When President-elect Donald Trump moves back into The White House, federal workers may have their daily routine upended after administration leaders and some lawmakers have expressed a desire to prioritize requiring them to return to the office after years of working from home since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The newly created Department of Government Efficiency - headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy - has announced one of their top goals is to eliminate working from home for federal employees which means requiring working in the office five days a week.
According to a 2023 study by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, almost 70 % of federal workers are still working from home at least part of the week.
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A U.S. Government Accountability Office report found that 17 of the 24 federal agencies they surveyed estimated using 25 % or less of their headquarters buildings' capacity.
If this goal is implemented into policy, D.C. could see the biggest impact, with more than 160,000 federal workers in the nation's capital.
The District's once-bustling sidewalks, storefronts, and offices are now empty, even at a time of day when employees are clocking out.
Steven Pratama is the manager of Nooshi, a sushi restaurant near several federal offices, and told 7News this change would boost business they have lost in the four years since the pandemic.
"If it's real, if it's happening, it will help us a lot," said Pratama. "We can only try our best. We can only hope things will get better. That's basically what we've been trying to do each and every day: just hope and do our best, and hopefully one day the federal workers are back, get more foot traffic, and business goes up."
According to an April survey by the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, 31% of restaurant owners who were polled said they have seen declining revenue, and 41% have noticed less customer traffic.
Pratama said this loss of business pushed the restaurant to close down its takeout building.
[We have lost] probably more than half [of business]," Pratama said. "Less foot traffic, less people are eating and dining in, more people are ordering online, but not a lot because people now know how to cook at home, as well. It's tough. It's been tough."
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It's not just federal offices seeing fewer workers in the office.
The 7News I-Team series, Out of the Office, reported nearly a quarter of all office space in D.C. is empty, according to two of the world's largest commercial real estate firms.
People who work from home said they, too, are concerned about the ripple effects of empty offices.
"I've worked in restaurants before, too, and I know we relied on that lunch rush," said Angelica Oung.
Federal and city leaders have been trying to stem the tide of workers staying at home.
Earlier this year, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered city employees to slash the number of days they work from home, down to a maximum of one day per week.
Axios reported in August 2023 that President Joe Biden called for his Cabinet to "aggressively execute" plans to require federal employees to come into the office.
But Oung, who is not a federal employee, said certain jobs operate better when done remotely.
"It just works better for my job," Oung said. "I do a lot of traveling, and there's just no sense being in an office. I think for the jobs of today, it doesn't necessarily work like that anymore."
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Despite studies detailing how many federal employees work from home for at least part of the week, an August 2024 White House Office of Management and Budget study reported workers spent almost 80 % of their work hours in the office, excluding remote workers who do not have a work site to report to.
While the nation awaits how any potential work-from-home policy under the new administration takes shape, Oung said she hopes they allow for some flexibility.
"I want them to be doing a good job, but I think we've all learned how to build some flexibility into our work day, and I think it should be a case-by-case basis," Oung said. "Of course, if they do their best work in an office, that's where I want them to be, but I'm sure there are a lot of roles where that's not necessary."