Global Workplace Analytics

July 27, 2020
Dear Chairman Barrasso, Ranking Member Carper and Members of the Senate
Committee on Environment & Public Works:
For nearly five decades, workplace flexibility has been promoted as a solution to someof our nation’s most vexing problems. Many leading employers embraced the concept
prior to the pandemic, but the majority did not—at least not for a large portion of theirworkforce.
The COVID-19 crisis forced over 95% of U.S. office workers to become regulartelecommuters practically overnight. 1 Now, more than four months into a global telework
experiment, it looks like the experience will fundamentally reshape the future of where,
when, and how people work.
The results of a survey by consulting giant PWC, released in June of 2020, showed
89% of executives expect more than 30% of employees will continue to work remotely
at least one day a week post-COVID-19; 55% expect more than 60% to do so. 2
Unfortunately, the work-from-home experience has been less than ideal for many. In
addition to the threat of illness, employees struggle with home-schooling, finding a quiet
place to work, inadequate broadband, inferior technology, and more. Surprisingly
however, the majority of managers and employees have quickly adapted to this new
way of working.
With the help of industry associations including the International Facility Management
Association’s ‘Workplace Evolutionaries’, Global Workplace Analytics and a partner
firm, Iometrics, fielded a Global Work-from-Home Experience Survey in late March ofthis year, just weeks after the shelter-in-place order was given. 3 The purpose of thesurvey was to learn who was working from home during the pandemic, understand what
was working and what was not, and provide insight into the impact it was likely to haveon the future of telework. Nearly three-quarters of the 2,800 respondents agreed withthe statement “I feel very successful working from home.” 4 Another 20% said they felt
moderately successful. And an overwhelming majority of both managers and employees
said they want to continue working from home at least part of the time. The pandemic
did not start the telework trend, but it will dramatically accelerate it.

6743 Montia Court, Carlsbad CA 92011 | Phone: 760-703-0377 | Kate@GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com

Written testimony for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 27, 2020

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Companies including Dell, Cisco, Citrix, Accenture, American Express, ADP, and others
had adopted aggressive telework programs long before COVID-19. Even ingovernment, agencies including USDA, SSA, GSA, and USPTO institutionalized
telework years ago and have documented the benefits including reduced real estate
costs.
Years of occupancy studies around the globe show workspaces are vacant a large partof the workday and meeting rooms are substantially underutilized. The reality is, like
Elvis, the workers have left the building (or at least their desk). Whether people are nine
floors, nine miles, or nine time zones away, they are already working remotely. Leading
employers have already transformed their workplaces to better support how and where
people are actually working; recreating their offices to best support the kind of work
people actually do in them, offer a choice of spaces, and including the option to work
remotely.
For the record, I have no skin in the office game. Aside from fewer traffic jams which I
can usually avoid by traveling during non-peak hours, having more people work
remotely wouldn’t make any difference in my life. But I have been working with private
and public sector employers and conducting primary and secondary research on
telework and on-site workplace strategies for nearly fifteen years, and it’s thatexperience that brings me here today as an advocate for not just telework, but a newattitude toward where and when people work. The advantages for employers,
employees, and the environment are just too important to ignore.
Benefits of Telework
Over the past five decades employers have primarily looked to telework as a way to
reduce real estate and related costs. Since the last recession, many have prioritized it
as a strategy for attracting and retaining talent. Other common drivers include
increasing agility, enhancing productivity, reducing greenhouse gases, improving
employee engagement, reducing employee stress, and improving disaster
preparedness. In nearly all of the cases I’ve seen, saving money may have kick-started
the program, but the people and productivity benefits have proven significant too.
Our research shows they people so expensive that an increase of just fifteen minutes ofadditional productivity per day would entirely offset their annual office costs. 1
Telework has proven to increase productivity in many ways.
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Telecommuters voluntarily give back about 50% of the time they would have otherwise spentcommuting (in government, that amounts to about 30 minutes of additional productivity per day). 5
They save 35 minutes per day due to unwanted distractions (50 minutes/day in government). 6
They are more highly engaged—a factor that Gallup research shows can increase productivity by
17% (81 minutes/day). 7

Average government salary of $90k plus 44% for benefits = $131k or $1.25 per minute over 217 workdays a year.
Average office lease cost of $30/s.f. and assumed 125 s.f. per person = $3,750 per year.

1

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Written testimony for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 27, 2020

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Predictably, organizations that have prioritized cost reduction over people—cramming
more people into smaller spaces—have been disappointed by the results.
To maximize the people, planet, and profit benefit, employers must embrace telework
and workplace flexibility as strategic imperatives. These programs need to be supported
from the top and deployed as a collaboration between human resources, real estate,
information technology, sustainability, risk management, communications, labor unions,employee groups, and other stakeholders. Absent this cross-functional approach,outcomes suffer.
Public and private sector telework success stories demonstrate the potential benefits oftelework are real.
Government Telework Examples
The Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 required agencies to annually report theirprogress in establishing employee eligibility and program participation. It encouraged,
but did not require, agencies to establish telework goals and measure program impacts.
The 2017 telework data call (summarized in the 2018 Telework Report to Congress)
was the first official request for agency data regarding outcomes.
Although the 2018 and 2019 reports to Congress indicated that many agencies were notable to comply with the new requirements, largely because they did not know how tomeasure results, the agencies that did report showed real financial savings. Among
them: 8
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Social Security Administration reported $900M in annual real estate savings
Securities and Exchange Commission reported $870k in annual transit subsidy savings
Agency for International Development reported $495k in annual real estate, technology, andtransit subsidy savings
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office reported $50M per year in annual real estate savings and a 93M
reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by employees with associated energy and greenhousegas savings
U.S. General Services Administration reported a 40% reduction in space, $25M in annual realestate savings, $6M in administrative costs, and a 50% reduction in energy
Department of Education reported $6M per year in annual real estate savings
Department of Homeland Security reported $7M per year in annual real estate savings
Department of Justice reported $3M in annual real estate savings

The Federal Work-Life Survey (FWLS) and Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS)
also document significant positive impacts on people. 9 Compared to nontelecommuters, telecommuters are more engaged (+16%), more satisfied (+19%), andless likely to leave their agency (-11%).
Teleworking supervisors and non-supervisors say telework:
Supervisors

Non-Supervisors

Global Workplace Analytics | Phone: 760-703-0377 | Kate@GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com

Written testimony for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 27, 2020

Improves performance
Increases desire to stay with agency
Improves morale
Improves healthHelps employees manage stress

63%
65%
77%
58%
67%

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76%
76%
83%
67%
74%

Only 15% of managers disagreed with the statement that telework programs help
people get their work done.
Further evidence of how important telework is to government employees was revealed
in a Department of Education survey conducted nine months after the agency recalled
their teleworkers in 2018—ostensibly to enhance collaboration and improve customer
service. 10 The vast majority of those polled felt the move decreased productivity, hurt
morale, increased absenteeism, and potentially increased turnover.
••••

87% of respondents said the telework rollback had hurt morale, only 2% felt it had a positiveeffect75% did not feel being back in the office had improved collaboration
86% said they knew someone who had left or was considering leaving the agency because of thetelework rollback
Agency supervisors widely agreed they saw none of the intended benefit from the reversal.

Private Sector Examples of Telework Impacts
Pre-COVID-19 private sector adopters of telework have also demonstrated substantial
triple-bottom-line benefits.
BT (British Telecom) 11,12$150M/year reduction in annual real estate costs
Compared to non-teleworkers, teleworkers showed:
o 20% greater productivity
o 4% turnover vs. 17% for the industry
o 5% higher customer service ratingso 63% reduction in absenteeism
Cisco 1330% reduction in real estate in spite of 15% increase in workforce
Closed 241 buildings
Saved $196M annual OPEX savings
Produced $288M in income through the sale of owned real estate
Achieved a $806M increase in productivity through mobile devices and applications
Compared to non-teleworkers, teleworkers showed:
o 17% higher engagement
o 17% higher workplace satisfaction
o 15% higher work-life balance
Mazda 1433% greater occupancy in same space
51% reduction in paper
ADP 15Global Workplace Analytics | Phone: 760-703-0377 | Kate@GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com

Written testimony for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 27, 2020

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Saving $6k per part-time remote worker per year
Cost to support each is $500/year
University of Phoenix (Apollo Group) 16$3M in annual real estate savings
34% increase in productivity
Compared to non-teleworkers, teleworkers showed:
o 12% higher employee engagement
o 88% decrease in unapproved absences
o 56% reduction in turnover
National Equity Fund 17
Reduced real estate by 25% saving $2.5M over their 10-year lease
U.K. Government 18
Shed government of over 120 properties in central London. Reduced government ownedbuildings from 180 properties in central London to 63.
Plantronics (UK) 19
Reduced real estate needs by more than half
Reduced absenteeism and voluntary turnover by 75%
Vodophone (UK)
Saved over £40M over 5 years
Grew staff from 3.5k to 5k with no additional space needs

It’s important to note the impacts in all of these examples are the result of an integrated
workplace change strategy, not simply the adoption of remote work.
The Potential Bottom Line on Telework in Government
My company has been cataloging academic research, case studies, and other data on
the impact of workplace strategies on people, planet, and organizational outcomes formore than a decade. Our digital library ofover 6,000 documents includes more thana thousand that pertain specifically totelework. That database informs our
proprietary Telework Savings Calculator™
which includes over 125 variables andperforms over 600 calculations to quantify
the employer, employee, andenvironmental impact of telework.
In 2016, the U.S. General Accountability
office was charged by members ofCongress with investigating methods andtools for quantifying the impact of telework in government. As part of that investigation,
they evaluated our calculator and referred to it in their final report as “comprehensive
and based on solid research.” 20

Global Workplace Analytics | Phone: 760-703-0377 | Kate@GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com

Written testimony for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 27, 2020

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Based on conservative assumptions, the calculator estimates the government-wide
impact of half-time telework could total over $11B per year—nearly $13k per teleworker
per year. Over $1.7B of that would come from reductions in real estate costs.
Potential Financial Impact of Federal Telework*
Impact on:
Assumption
Productivity
Real Estate
Absenteeism
Continuity of Operations
Voluntary Turnover$ Impact+15% on telework days
$6,369M-25%$1,753M-31%$1,189M
5 days/year$1,957M-10%$352M
Total $11,620M* Assumes 906k eligible teleworkers (per the 2018 Telework Report to Congress)* Assumes 25% reduction in space with half-time telework

Other Benefits
Telework also contributes to the federal government’s progress toward wide range ofpriorities and directives including:
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Reducing its real estate footprint (2010, Presidential Memorandum—Disposing of Unneeded
Federal Real Estate)
Enhancing resilience (Telework Enhancement Act of 2010)
Creating a lean, accountable, efficient government (2017, OMB Memorandum M-17-22)
Accommodating disabled workers (2009, Executive Order—Federal Leadership in Environmental,
Energy, and Economic Performance, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act), as amended,
29 U.S.C. Â§ 791 et seq.)
Reducing waste; modernizing government (2010, 25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform
Federal Information Technology Management; 2009, Executive Order—Federal Leadership inEnvironmental, Energy, and Economic Performance)
Promoting efficient spending (2011, Executive Order 13589—Promoting Efficient Spending)

Additionally, telework programs can help solve a number of broader national problems
such as:
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Expanding the talent pool
Improving diversity and inclusion
Slowing the brain drain due to retirements
Providing employment opportunities for military spouses, residents of rural areas, the disabled,
caregivers, and other unemployed and under-employed populations
Taking pressure off our transportation infrastructure
Reducing traffic congestion and accidents
Saving employees money and time and improving their health
Addressing the eldercare crisis
Revitalizing communities where significant industry has been lost
Reducing the outbound migration of talent in rural areas
Reducing the high cost of living in urban areas
Reduce business travel as employees get comfortable communicating virtually

Global Workplace Analytics | Phone: 760-703-0377 | Kate@GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com

Written testimony for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 27, 2020

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Given the far-reaching benefits of telework, governments should be promoting it boththrough its own adoption and through broader legislation.
The Tipping Point for Telework
Based on the results of that survey, others like it, and other factors, we feel certain
COVID-19 will be a tipping point for adoption of remote work for the following reasons.
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Increased demand for work-from-home from employees
Employers have long ignored the fact that employees are desperate for flexibility in where andwhen they work. Gallup studies indicate a third of employees would to take a pay cut in exchange
for the option. Yet while 70% of employers said they offered work-from-home in 2019, 21 only 7%
offered it to all or most of their people. 22 For the most part, telework has been offered as a
privilege to more senior, higher salary employees. 23
While the experience of working at home during the crisis has been far from ideal as wholefamilies sheltered in place, it has given people a taste of what could be. The genie is out of thebottle and it’s not likely to go back in. Only 3% of U.S. respondents to our Global Work-fromHome Experience Survey (5% in government) said they would not want to work from home at all
after the crisis. Seventy-six percent said they wanted to do so at least once a week, (85% ingovernment). The preferred frequency was 2.5 days a week. 24•

Reduced fear about work-from-home among managers and executives
Historically, one of the biggest holdbacks of remote work has been trust—managers simply did
not trust their people to work untethered. This has been particularly true in government.
Managers are used to managing by counting heads and hours, rather than by results. But
research shows managers who have worked from home themselves are more likely to endorse it.
As they and their people get used to using virtual tools, their worries about not being able tocollaborate are proven wrong. They see for themselves how much more productive, happier, andengaged they are without the stress of commuting, with improved work-life balance, fewer
workplace interruptions, etc.

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Increased pressure for work-from-home as disaster preparedness (continuity ofoperations) strategy
COVID-19 publicly exposed just how unprepared organizations were for an event like thepandemic. The bottom-line impact to the economy will total in the billions of dollars. Were it notfor telework, a federal shutdown would be costing taxpayers over a billion dollars a day.
It’s not a question of if another natural or man-made event will force people to work from home,it’s a matter of when. Organizations that were not ready this time will be compelled to be better
prepared in the future.

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Increased awareness of cost-saving opportunities in work-from-home
The COVID-19 experience is already reshaping how employers think about the “where” and“how” of work. In the economic downturn that will inevitably follow the crisis, the potential forwork-from-home to reduce real estate costs, increase productivity, and enhance scalability will
increase adoption.

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Increased attention to the potential impact of work-from-home on sustainability
During COVID-19 cities saw a dramatic increase in air quality. Having seen the potential for workfrom-home as a sustainability strategy, it will be hard to ignore in the future.

Global Workplace Analytics | Phone: 760-703-0377 | Kate@GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com

Written testimony for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 27, 2020

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The Telework Savings Calculator™ estimates the annual environmental impact from just a
reduction in commuter travel from half-time telework among U.S. employees who both want towork remotely and have a compatible job, would be the greenhouse gas equivalent of taking the
100,000 cars off the road. Further environmental benefits would come from reduced travel and asmaller real estate footprint.

The Counter Arguments
While thousands of organizations have successfully deployed telework programs, critics
are quick to point to the high-profile reversals at Yahoo, Best Buy, and IBM. What isn’t
said is that all three were in deep financial trouble at the time of the rollback. There’s acommon tendency of wanting the ‘circle the wagons’ when things get tough. But otherfactors were likely at play as well. Eager to reverse their misfortune, they saw the recall
as an easy way to shed salaries by getting people to quit.
In the case of IBM, where the recall actually only involved only 6% of employees, thecompany’s motives were highly suspect. The targeted teleworkers, many of whom had
been working remotely for years, were told they needed to move to one of twelve cities
and report to an office. The thinking, presumably, was that younger, lower cost
employees would likely make the move and the older, higher salaried workers would
quit.
These reversals also demonstrate the need for organizations to be intentional about
their telework programs. Rather than just letting remote work happen, as most have,organizations need to make it happen. That means, among other things:••••

Formalizing remote work policies and practices
Teaching managers how to manage by results
Providing the training people need to be successful
Ensuring cultural and technological readiness

Other common arguments against telework include worries that collaboration,
innovation, on-boarding, and esprit de corps will suffer. Research shows otherwise withrespect to the first two. The last two have proven to be more difficult, though notunsurmountable as many companies have been successful with a fully remote strategy.
For the most part, telework is not an all or nothing proposition. Both employers andemployees want a mix of in-office and remote time.
Overcoming Barriers and Avoiding Unintended Consequences
There are numerous barriers to telework in government and the private sector.
Government should address the following to encourage both widespread adoption andequal access to telework.
To advance federal telework, government should:• Incentivize agencies to reduce real estate costs; let them share in real estate related savings

Global Workplace Analytics | Phone: 760-703-0377 | Kate@GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com

Written testimony for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 27, 2020

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Require agencies to demonstrate telework efforts as a prerequisite to lease renewals or new
space allocations
Require agencies to track and report financial, human capital, and sustainability outcomes oftelework
Make all federal employees eligible for telework and put the onus on managers to prove themineligible
Require agencies to provide justification for recalling teleworkers
Make telework goals part of agency performance goals
Train managers to manage by results
Make it easier for agencies to fire underperformers
Ensure government employees have access to leading-edge remote technology
Require training for teleworkers and telework managers

To advance telework in government and the broader population, government should:• Prioritize ubiquitous broadband to ensure access to equal access to education andemployment• Prioritize telework in federal, state, and local transportation demand management strategies• Encourage policies that reward less driving• Reduce the complexity of state and local laws, tax rules, workers compensation regulations,and sales tax nexus rules as they relate to where people work
• Encourage employers to establish workplaces, work practices, and work policies that aregood for people• Support the disclosure of human capital metrics in financial reporting• Take a stand in protecting remote employees from invasions of privacy from activity tracking• Provide funding and/or incentives for upskilling and reskilling the workforce for remotecompatible jobs
• Provide protections against unequal treatment of teleworkers in terms of careeradvancement, job security, activity monitoring, compensation, etc.
• Be a leader in a holistic, cross-functional approach to telework

Conclusion
The way we’ve been working for the last several decades is unsustainable. We need to
go beyond thinking about remote work as merely a tactical solution to the problem.
In a world where brains, not brawn or machinery or land ownership are the creators ofwealth, we need break loose of the 20th Century framework that keeps us tethered tothe concept of work as a place rather than what we do.
“Out of adversity, comes opportunity,” said Benjamin Franklin, and this is ouropportunity to fundamentally reframe the where, when, and how of work in a way that’s
better for people, planet, and organizational performance.

About Kate Lister
Kate is president of Global Workplace Analytics (GWA), a research and consulting firmthat helps employers understand and prepare for the future of work. Her expertise isfocused on workplace, workforce, technology, and other trends that are changing the

Global Workplace Analytics | Phone: 760-703-0377 | Kate@GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com

Written testimony for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 27, 2020

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who, what, when, where, and how of work.
Kate is one of the leading authorities on remote and flexible work. She has:
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Worked with public and private sector employers and community leaders to make thebusiness case for telework and other flexible work strategies
Co-authored an e-learning course called The Case for Change which has been used totransition over a hundred-thousand public and private sector employees to remote work.
Written or contributed to two books on the topic, the most recent of which, “Telework in
the 21st Century (Edward Elgin, 2019), profiles telework practices around the globe (Katewas selected to write the U.S. chapter)
Contributed to the evolution of telework programs in Washington state, California,
Maryland, Texas, and Calgary CA
Published a wide range of white papers on the topic including two specific to telework in
the federal government
Participated, as an invited expert, in a federal government roundtable on the ROI of
telework
Delivered speeches and conducted workshops about remote work for dozens oforganizations

Working with some of the world's most respected product and service providers, Katecollaborates to publish a wide range of original and secondary research on the future ofwork. She has written or co-authored five business books, numerous white papers, andscores of articles for major media outlets. Her firm’s research has been cited byhundreds of publications including the Harvard Business Review, New York Times, WallStreet Journal, Washington Post, and many others.
Kate is a member of the strategic advisory board and leadership team of Workplace
Evolutionaries (WE), a global group of leading workplace thinkers and doers who are"changing the world one workplace at a time.”

Footnotes to Kate Lister’s Testimony to the Senate Committee on Environment &Public Works, Submitted July 29, 2020
1

Global Work from Home Experience Survey, Global Workplace Analytics & Iometrics, 2020
PWC US Remote Work Survey, June 25, 2020
3 Global Work from Home Experience Survey, Global Workplace Analytics & Iometrics, 2020
4 Global Work from Home Experience Survey, Global Workplace Analytics & Iometrics, 2020
5 Global Work from Home Experience Survey, Global Workplace Analytics & Iometrics, 2020
6 Global Work from Home Experience Survey, Global Workplace Analytics & Iometrics, 2020
7 State of the American Workplace, Gallup, Inc., 20178 Telework Report to Congress, OPM, 2018 and 20199 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and Federal Work-Life Survey, OPM, 2018 and 201910
After telework cuts Education Dept. staff see little benefit from more office time, Federal News Network,
November 28, 2019
11 Employers for Carers website, BT—Senior Manager’s View
2

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Written testimony for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, July 27, 2020

Page 11 of 1112Case Study summary provided by Andrew Lake, Managing Director of Smarter Working (UK), author ofSmart Flexibility (Gower, 2013) and author of British Standards Institute Code of Practice for Smart
Working (PAS 3000); Smart Working Handbook, 2nd Edition, Flexibility.co.uk, 2015
13 Cisco Connected Workplace, Cisco, 201714 IFMA Conference, Iometrics presentation, 201815
Email to Kate Lister from Amy Freshman, Senior HR Director, ADP
16 Balanced Business Case: Using Human Capital Metrics to Drive Workplace Change, Iometrics casestudy, 201317 Why remote working succeeds at some companies and not others, Chicago Tribune, August 6, 201718
Government Estate Strategy, Cabinet Office, July 201819 It’s Work, But Not As We Know It, Andy Lake and Tim Dwelly, 2014
20 GAO-16-551, Better Guidance Could Help Agencies Calculate Benefits and Costs, GAO-16-551
21 Leave and Flexible Working, SHRM Employee Benefits, 201922 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quality of Life Benefits (Table 39), March 201923 Telework in the 21st Century, Jon Messenger, Edward Elgar 201924
Global Work from Home Experience Survey, Global Workplace Analytics & Iometrics, 2020

Global Workplace Analytics | Phone: 760-703-0377 | Kate@GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com