California orders nearly 100,000 workers to return to offices

The announcement is one the larger state mandates since the COVID-19 pandemic upended work habits. It follows a White House directive to bring back federal workers full-time, while major companies such as Salesforce Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have taken similar steps to have employees return.

“In-person work makes us all stronger — period,” Newsom said in a statement. “When we work together, collaboration improves, innovation thrives, and accountability increases.”

California’s 224,000 workers are currently required to show up in office at least two days a week. The mandate announced Monday will affect about 95,000 people, the governor’s office said, since many state jobs already require full-time in-person work. In the already congested Sacramento area, it could complicate the commutes for thousands of workers who don’t live near their offices.

“California seems like it doesn’t want to be out of line with the federal government,” said Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University professor who studies remote-work trends. He said enforcing the mandate will be difficult, with typical compliance rates hovering around 50% to 70%. “If they’re mandating four days in practice, my guess is you’ll see two to three days,” he said.

Newsom’s order provides room for exemptions on a case-by-case basis. Those may include employees who were hired with a “mutually agreed-upon telework arrangement” and others who don’t live near their offices.

The governor also ordered the state’s human resources department to make it easier for federal workers who were fired by the Trump’s administration to find jobs with the state. California will create a website connecting this “newly available talented workforce with current job opportunities” and identify vacancies that match the skills of fired federal employees.

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