Trump Halts Remote Work: What It Could Mean for Your Company

In one of President Donald Trump’s briefest executive orders, his administration put the hammer down on remote work.

It’ll likely have far-reaching implications that affect the private sector, possibly fueling more return to in-person work and ending remote and hybrid work initiatives.

Remote Work Done

Trump’s Return to In-Person Work executive order instructs federal agencies to end remote work arrangements and pull employees back to in-person work at their respective job sites on a full-time basis. And because it’s such a brief order, we’ll give you the whole thing … 

“Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary. This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law.”

The actual process of bringing people back into offices hasn’t been figured out yet. And there’s no timeframe on when it will be fully implemented and enforced.

Option Available

But Trump handed federal employees options a week after the order. In a memo from the Office of Personnel Management, the government’s human resources agency, Trump offered buyouts to federal employees who opt to leave their jobs within a week. It’s an unprecedented move to quickly shrink the U.S. government.

More so, it’s an out for employees who don’t want to return to the office full-time. If they resign, the can receive pay and benefits and will be exempt from in-person work requirements until Sept. 30. 

A caveat: Trump’s administration made it clear that government employees who stay on could still lose their jobs as they work to downsize the federal government.

Pushback, Exodus Expected

Regardless of when and how, there will likely be some pushback from federal employees, following suit behind many private sector companies such as Amazon and Dell, which called for full-time on-site workweeks.

And pushing back may be the minimum they do: More than 80% of employees in a Monster survey said they would look for new jobs if they were required to return full-time. And a third of people wouldn’t even apply for a job if it required them to be in an office five days a week.

But that may be the result Trump’s administration is after: In another executive order, Establishing and Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” he essentially created a team to trim down the size of the government.

While that executive order didn’t specifically mention government spending, it’s anticipated that DOGE will look for ways to make cuts from the $6.8 trillion federal budget and reduce the number of federal agencies and federal civilian employees. There are more than 400 agencies and 2 million employees.

Plus, Trump already essentially furloughed all federal employees in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) positions.

No Place To Go?

What’s more, Trump may not have space for some employees to go back to in-person work — another sign he plans to trim down personnel.

He wants the General Services Administration, which owns, manages and leases most of the government’s 370 million square feet of federal buildings, to sell as much as two-thirds of them. Many offices already sit empty or underused, the GSA admitted. 

Eager for Return

On the flip side, there are people who are eager for a return to office in Washington D.C. and beyond: local business owners who’ve struggled since the pandemic to stay afloat. The owners welcome the return so they can bring back or hire employees and get their businesses thriving again.

With people in offices, coffee shop, restaurant and retail shop owners hope to regain foot traffic and sales.

Make the Return to Work Worthwhile

Trump’s order to end remote work could prompt more organizations and public agencies to call employees back into offices. Whether you think you’ll do it, you’ve already planned it, or you just want to make the office a place employees want to be, approach a return to the office strategically.

Try a workplace value proposition. It’s a “why we come to work” document, highlighting the culture, benefits and positive interactions employees have when on-site.

Make sure yours addresses these four important areas:

• Connection: How will employees connect professionally and personally? Plan to provide opportunities for structured and unstructured time to engage, share and discuss life and work.
• Collaboration: How will employees collaborate effectively? It’s important because working together boosts productivity and fosters and sustains trust – a critical element in a hybrid workplace. So schedule carefully. Plan tasks that need team collaboration and interdependent work while people are on-site at the same time.
• Creativity: How will employees become collaboratively creative and how will the organization capture it? When people are physically together, they brainstorm more ideas and generate more creative solutions. Encourage employees to safely take informal breaks and meet more formally to discuss challenges, new ideas and lessons learned.
• Culture. How will you build or maintain company culture in 2025 and beyond? Ask employees to help redefine what makes your culture unique, how they can work together and where ideals and goals are rooted.

For more tips on making a return to in-person work better for employees, see 10 Incentives to Make a Return to Office Exciting.

For the latest updates on executive orders affecting HR, take a look at New Executive Orders: What HR Should Know for Trump 2.0.