Trump's return to office order worked
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The remote work era is over in Washington: The share of federal employees working in-office is up sharply from last year, a Gallup survey released Wednesday finds.
Why it matters: President Trump's return-to-office order worked — and then some. Federal government workers are now twice as likely to work in-office as employees overall nationwide.
The big picture: Trump's RTO order was an early part of the administration's effort to push federal workers to leave their jobs.
- Many have left rather than go back to an office they'd never visited or that was too many miles away.
- The RTO order was also an early sign that the administration would not respect the contracts the government had signed with federal unions — many had guaranteed hybrid and remote work arrangements.
- Since then, the White House has stripped nearly half a million federal employees of their union rights.
By the numbers: The percentage of federal employees working in-office skyrocketed nearly 30 points in the second quarter of the year to 46%, according to Gallup.
- Nationwide, only 21% of workers who work in remote-capable jobs were working fully on-site.
Zoom out: Despite the RTO office hype, and outside the government, Gallup found hybrid work arrangements are here to stay.
- 51% of workers are in hybrid arrangements.
The fine print: Gallup surveyed 17,660 adults working full- or part-time, and honed in on those in "remote-capable" jobs — about half. Of that universe, Gallup looked at 542 federal employees.
The bottom line: President Trump wasn't the only federal employee who returned to office in 2025.
