How Trump's return-to-office push affects Michigan's federal workers
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President Trump's mandate that federal workers return to the office full time would affect thousands of Michiganders — and some downtown businesses that would see more foot traffic.
The big picture: Trump's executive orders freezing federal hiring and ending remote work aim to shrink the federal workforce and target what the administration calls "rogue bureaucrats and career politicians."
By the numbers: Michigan is home to about 82,000 federal workers, including military members, per the U.S. Census Bureau.
- An estimated 12.8% of the state's federal employees — more than 10,000 Michiganders — said they worked from home at least once during the week in a 2023 survey, per the Census.
Zoom in: The owner of Que Deli — across the street from downtown's federal courthouse at the old Gateway Deli, where Kwame Kilpatrick, judges and lawyers dined — tells Axios that he's expecting more foot traffic with Trump's return-to-work order.
- After Gateway closed in 2020, Kujtim Kolami reopened the deli under its new name in December 2023.
- "We're surrounded by federal buildings," Kolami said during lunch hour on Friday. "We're hoping it's going to be a little better — we'll see."
State of play: More than a dozen federal agencies have offices in the McNamara and Rosa Parks federal buildings on Michigan Avenue, the western edge of downtown.
- The city's two other federal buildings are the courthouse and a U.S. Customs Cargo Inspection Facility, according to publicly available information confirmed by the U.S. General Services Administration.
- In an email exchange with Axios, the GSA did not answer a question about how Trump's order would change the number of workers in Detroit's federal buildings.
- And five years after the beginning of the pandemic, it's still unclear if every federal employee even has an office to return to.
Between the lines: Return-to-office pushes can be a way for companies (and governments) to conduct layoffs without technically having to fire anyone, Axios' Emily Peck reports.
The latest: Agencies must work up their implementation plans describing how they'll comply with the return-to-office directive and submit the plans by Feb. 7.
📢 We want to hear from you: Are you a federal worker facing big changes?
- Email [email protected] and let us know how you're affected.