Return-to-Office Information Points

Return-to-Office Information Points

The following information is intended to help explain how the Governor’s Hybrid Work Standard, requiring state employees to spend at least three days in the office, will impact Vermonters.

KEY MESSAGES:

• The return-to-office policy runs counter to the State’s policy goals of making Vermont more affordable, growing the economy, protecting the vulnerable, and improving government efficiency.  
• It is irresponsible to implement the return-to-office policy without first disclosing to taxpayers how much it is going to cost.
• The current flexible hybrid work policy saves Vermont taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year, improves government services, and strengthens rural communities.

1. GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY: The current hybrid work policy works for Vermonters

1. The State’s current hybrid work policy allows each agency to set telework requirements that align with employees’ specific work and needs. A blanket 3-day in-office requirement will lead to reduced morale and increased turnover, which will impact the quality and continuity of services and increase recruitment costs.
2. Staff who provide direct face-to-face client services go into the office to provide those services. Staff who provide client services by phone or online can do so from their home office. About 50% of employees go into the office one or more times every week. An additional 27% go in monthly.
3. Cisco’s 2025 Global Hybrid Work Study finds that fully flexible arrangements outperform all other models when it comes to productivity gains. A 2024 MIT Sloan Management Review article came to the same conclusion.
4. Many state office buildings in Waterbury and Montpelier are in floodplains. A flexible approach to hybrid work helps ensure continuity of state services during disruptions — whether due to flooding, internet, or electrical outage.
5. The groups most likely to leave state service as a result of a return-to-office mandate are young people, women, and high achievers. The departure of these employees is one of the reasons why productivity decreases after a return-to-office policy is implemented.

        What this addresses:

• The administration’s view that we have lost collaboration
• The public’s concern of work not getting done remotely

2. AFFORDABILITY: Implementing this policy will require new investments in infrastructure and personnel that will cost Vermont taxpayers tens of millions of dollars every year.

        Building-related costs:

6. In order to support increased in-office requirements across all departments, the state will have to make major capital investments. Since the pandemic, the state’s workforce has grown while its office capacity has gotten smaller. For example, in 2024 the central office of the Department of Health was moved from the John J. Zampieri building in Burlington with space for 400 to a space in Waterbury with room for 125.
7. The Agency of Human Services alone will require an additional 700 desks. That’s roughly twice the capacity of the Zampieri building, which is currently for sale with an assessed value of $29 million.
8. Buying or leasing office space, furnishing those offices, and paying for utilities, cleaning, maintenance, and insurance will increase costs to taxpayers. These “indirect costs” are estimated to add $0.69 to every dollar spent on salary. So for 700 employees earning the 2023 average salary of $68,000, that’s $32.8 million — for one state agency, for one year.
9. Increased competition for limited housing stock near state offices will increase the home costs and rent in areas like Montpelier and Waterbury.  
10. If 3,000 state workers drive 3,333 to 6,666 additional miles each year, that adds up to 10 to 20 million additional miles. This means more traffic, more car exhaust, more wear and tear on roads, and an “extra” traffic fatality every five to 10 years*  – none of which makes Vermont safer or more affordable.

*Based on Vermont’s traffic fatality rate of 1 death per 100 million miles driven.

        Costs related to staff turnover and recruitment:

11. It is expensive to recruit, hire, and train new workers. Replacing a highly trained worker can cost half to twice their annual salary depending on their role. For example, if the return-to-office mandate forces 300 workers to leave state service, that’s a price tag of $10 million to $40 million.
12. As long as rigid in-office requirements are in place, the state will have higher rates of employee turnover, higher recruiting costs, and higher job vacancy rates, resulting in poorer state services delivered at a higher cost to taxpayers.
13. New employees who know they must purchase homes near state office buildings or face long commutes will demand higher starting salaries, adding additional costs.

        What this addresses:

• The administration’s priority of fiscal responsibility in Government spending
• The public’s concern of taxpayer funding/costs

3. RURAL RESILIENCE AND ECONOMIC VITALITY: The return-to-office policy will hurt rural communities, weakening their schools, businesses, and emergency services. 

1. The current flexible hybrid work policy supports the Governor's broader strategy to address Vermont's demographic challenges and expand the state's workforce by attracting new residents and creating opportunities for young Vermonters to build careers in-state. As the Vermont Futures Project says, remote workers “revitalize rural areas, promote innovation, and strengthen local economies.”
2. State workers help their neighbors as volunteer firefighters and EMTs. They volunteer as coaches and youth mentors. Requiring all state workers to commute, even when it’s unnecessary, means they have less time to give back to their communities. For example, 95% of the fire departments in Vermont are volunteer-run. Reduced access to volunteer labor could have a significant impact on the disaster resiliency of small communities in the state.
3. A flexible hybrid work policy allows employees to remain in rural or affordable areas, which supports local economies statewide — not just in the cities where state offices are located.
4. Requiring workers to return to the office three days per week may benefit businesses in Montpelier and Waterbury — but it will hurt the stores, shops, and restaurants where state workers spend their salaries in the communities where they live, especially when workers quit or move to be closer to the office.
5. The population, tax base, and school-age population of many rural towns are shrinking. Forcing state workers to move away from rural towns to be closer to state offices undermines efforts to strengthen rural Vermont.

What this addresses:

• The administration’s priority of economically vibrant, healthy, and strong rural communities
• The public’s concern of all resources being on focused on population hubs (Burlington, Montpelier, Waterbury areas)

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:

• A flexible hybrid work policy improves state services while reducing costs and building economic resilience in rural communities.
• Any improvements in collaboration or culture that result from more time in the office will be outweighed by significant new costs to Vermonters, higher employee turnover, slower response times, and weakened rural communities.
• The Scott Administration should share an assessment of the financial costs of the policy before implementing it.
• To avoid repeating the mistakes of Texas and California, Governor Scott should continue to allow hybrid work policy to be made at the agency, department, and work-group level.