- California is mandating that state employees return to the office four days a week starting July 1.
- The move aligns with a White House mandate for federal workers to return full-time.
- Companies like Amazon and JPMorgan also require in-person work, ending remote policies.
California is requiring most state employees to come into the office at least four days a week starting July 1.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said on Monday that the state employs 224,000 full-time workers and that over half have returned to daily in-office work.
“When we work together, collaboration improves, innovation thrives, and accountability increases,” Newson said in a statement.
The announcement said telework would be granted on a case-by-case basis, including for employees who do not live near their offices.
The order follows a White House mandate to return federal workers to the office full time. President Donald Trump signed the return-to-office mandate during his first hours in office.
Changes are also being rolled out on the state level. Some states, including Ohio and Oklahoma, require their employees to work in person, ending pandemic-era telework policies.
Similarly, companies including Amazon, JPMorgan, and Salesforce have required their employees to return to in-person work.
California’s order has gained criticism from the largest public sector union in the country.
On Monday, SEIU Local 1000 called Newsom’s decision “out of touch, unnecessary, and a step backward” and asked him to “reverse this reckless decision.”
“Forcing workers back into the office hits them financially,” the union wrote in a statement. Many will face higher costs for gas, parking, and commuting — expenses that telework helped avoid.”
The order reverses Newsom’s outlook and policies toward remote work. During the pandemic and until the end of 2023, his administration encouraged remote work for California government employees. It also gave individual agencies within the government autonomy over remote or hybrid work policies. Newsom has been pushing for in-person work since April 2024.
Newsom also asked state human resources to streamline the hiring of former federal workers who want jobs in areas such as firefighting, weather forecasting, natural resource management, and medical and mental healthcare. Mass layoffs and employee buyouts across US government agencies led by the Department of Government Efficiency — or DOGE — have left thousands of federal employees unemployed.
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who heads DOGE, have said the moves are meant to improve productivity and slash federal spending.
Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
