Shannon Bond

But actually, many federal agencies had been encouraging telework going back decades as a way of saving on costs around like, you know, real estate, utilities, office space. The Office of Personnel Management found telework saved taxpayers more than $230 million in 2023. And the government was encouraging telework during the first Trump administration as well.

But actually, many federal agencies had been encouraging telework going back decades as a way of saving on costs around like, you know, real estate, utilities, office space. The Office of Personnel Management found telework saved taxpayers more than $230 million in 2023. And the government was encouraging telework during the first Trump administration as well.

But actually, many federal agencies had been encouraging telework going back decades as a way of saving on costs around like, you know, real estate, utilities, office space. The Office of Personnel Management found telework saved taxpayers more than $230 million in 2023. And the government was encouraging telework during the first Trump administration as well.

You know, many of the employees that I spoke with said this is not about They don't want to go back into the office, that it's inconvenient or that they're being lazy. They say that for them, remote work has enabled them to be more efficient, to be more productive. And then getting rid of it feels like an indirect way of pressuring them to quit.

You know, many of the employees that I spoke with said this is not about They don't want to go back into the office, that it's inconvenient or that they're being lazy. They say that for them, remote work has enabled them to be more efficient, to be more productive. And then getting rid of it feels like an indirect way of pressuring them to quit.

You know, many of the employees that I spoke with said this is not about They don't want to go back into the office, that it's inconvenient or that they're being lazy. They say that for them, remote work has enabled them to be more efficient, to be more productive. And then getting rid of it feels like an indirect way of pressuring them to quit.

And they say it just doesn't make a lot of sense bringing people back into offices that can't accommodate them. It's actually going to cost the government money.

And they say it just doesn't make a lot of sense bringing people back into offices that can't accommodate them. It's actually going to cost the government money.

And they say it just doesn't make a lot of sense bringing people back into offices that can't accommodate them. It's actually going to cost the government money.

It is.

It is.

It is.

And it didn't end up that simple. So Musk posted about this on X on Saturday, said everyone's going to receive this email. And by the way, if you don't respond, we're going to take that as a resignation, which is sort of kind of a stunning thing to announce, like by this person who He is a special government employee, but the White House has said he's not running anything, right?

And it didn't end up that simple. So Musk posted about this on X on Saturday, said everyone's going to receive this email. And by the way, if you don't respond, we're going to take that as a resignation, which is sort of kind of a stunning thing to announce, like by this person who He is a special government employee, but the White House has said he's not running anything, right?

And it didn't end up that simple. So Musk posted about this on X on Saturday, said everyone's going to receive this email. And by the way, if you don't respond, we're going to take that as a resignation, which is sort of kind of a stunning thing to announce, like by this person who He is a special government employee, but the White House has said he's not running anything, right?

He's not running any of these agencies. He's not running the Office of Personnel Management. He's not even running the Doge office that he has sort of established in the White House. Technically, we'll get into that. But then this government-wide email comes out from the Office of Personnel Management asking people to respond to this. Well, no, it did not have the ultimatum about not responding.

He's not running any of these agencies. He's not running the Office of Personnel Management. He's not even running the Doge office that he has sort of established in the White House. Technically, we'll get into that. But then this government-wide email comes out from the Office of Personnel Management asking people to respond to this. Well, no, it did not have the ultimatum about not responding.

He's not running any of these agencies. He's not running the Office of Personnel Management. He's not even running the Doge office that he has sort of established in the White House. Technically, we'll get into that. But then this government-wide email comes out from the Office of Personnel Management asking people to respond to this. Well, no, it did not have the ultimatum about not responding.

And immediately we just saw like utter confusion and chaos across federal agencies. You know, workers are being like, am I supposed to respond to this? Like some of them are like, I work on classified material or, you know, and it said don't put any classified information in. But like a lot of people were quite nervous about like what is going to be done with this? How do I respond?

And immediately we just saw like utter confusion and chaos across federal agencies. You know, workers are being like, am I supposed to respond to this? Like some of them are like, I work on classified material or, you know, and it said don't put any classified information in. But like a lot of people were quite nervous about like what is going to be done with this? How do I respond?