LINKS
California State Remote Work Analysis: 4-Day RTO Policy Impact Assessment – An analysis, per CA Department of General Services data, of the environmental and economic impact of California’s proposed mandate requiring state employees to return to the office four days per week, starting July 2025. Examines how the policy reversal would affect commute patterns, CO2 emissions, and employee costs.
Telework Dashboard – The original telework dashboard was taken down in 2024. Someone found the dataset and posted on this website in May 2025.
GavinLovesTraffic.com – Website with several resources about the 1st RTO (2 days per week) by unknown author
2024-118 Department of General Services and Department of Human Resources—State Telework Policies – Audit by the California State Auditor will provide independently developed and verified information related to the Department of General Services (DGS) and the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) regarding the State’s telework policies.
Not Incentivized Yet Efficient: Working From Home in the Public Sector (PDF) – Paper studies whether working from home affects workers’ performance
in public sector jobs
NEWS
June 2025 Inside Sacramento: Learning Curve – New councilman gets lessons in public’s frustrations
5/16/2025 Gazettextra (Sac Bee): California state workers say Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to halt raises is ‘untenable’
5/13/2025 Sac Bee: CA state workers use AI to craft anti-Newsom billboard targeting irked drivers
5/14/2025 Sac Bee: State worker payroll freezes in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised California budget
5/8/2025 Sac Bee: CA state worker return-to-office order spurs hope, blowback for businesses
4/24/2025 Sac Bee: State workers raise $15K for billboard blaming worsening traffic on Gavin Newsom
4/23/2025 Sac Bee: California doesn’t know the cost to bring state workers back to offices
4/20/2025 LA Times: Banked vacation leads to a $1.2 million payday: How state workers cash in on days off
See Reddit post with article summary. Approximately 95,000 state workers to RTO starting July 1st.
4/11/2025 Cal Matters: California’s lieutenant governor leases offices to the state. What if she’s elected governor?
According to financial disclosures, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis’ portfolio includes downtown Sacramento office buildings that rent to dozens of organizations with business before the state and at least three state agencies.
4/3/2025 KQED: If Your Employer Demands a Return to the Office, What Options Do You Have?
3/27/2025 CalMatters: Trump clawed back billions in federal health grants. Here’s how much California is losing
3/14/2025 Cap Radio: As state workers are called into the office for more days, office capacity remains unclear
3/10/2025 Sacramento Bee: How will Gavin Newsom’s return-to-office order affect California state telework stipends?
3/6/2025 MSN (Sacramento Bee article): California state worker unions fight ‘inexplicable and unnecessary’ return-to-office order
3/4/2025 Cap Radio: Newsom requires state workers to be in the office nearly full time
3/4/2025 KCRA News: Downtown Sacramento braces for influx of state employees with governor’s return to office order
3/3/2025 KCRA News: Gov. Newsom orders California state workers to return to office 4 days a week
3/3/2025 CalMatters: Return to office: Newsom orders California state workers back four days a week
1/23/2025 CNBC: Return-to-office policies are ‘creeping up,’ researcher says. Many workers would rather quit
About half of workers say they’d rather quit than return to the office full time, according to a Pew Research Center poll. Workers value hybrid work similarly to an 8% raise, by one estimate. “Remote work is not going away,” Nick Bloom, an economics professor at Standford University who studies workplace management, previously told CNBC. That’s largely because it boost profits for companies: Workers quit less often, meaning employers save money on recruiting and other functions tied to attrition, Bloom said. Meanwhile, data shows that productivity doesn’t suffer in hybrid work arrangements, he said.
10/29/2024 Sac Bee: California state workers have returned to downtown, but they’re leaving their dollars at home
8/20/2024 Sac Bee: California wanted state workers back in the office. Here’s how many have returned
5/20/2024 Gartner: The Data Is In: Return-to-Office Mandates Aren’t Worth the Talent Risks
Nearly three-quarters of executives say return-to-office (RTO) mandates are a source of leadership conflict. Lack of work-life balance ranks among the top five reasons employees quit.
5/14/2024 Assemblyman Josh Hoover website: Joint Legislative Audit Committee Unanimously Passes Review of State Worker Return-to-Office Mandate
2024-118 Department of General Services and Department of Human Resources—State Telework Policies (Audit Scope)
5/6/2024 CalMatters: Newsom wants California state employees back in the office. New ruling makes it harder to object
4/10/2024 Politico: Newsom orders state workers back into the office
3/26/2024 Yahoo! News (Sacramento Bee article): California departments with return-to-office mandates praised telework in internal surveys
California shut down the office that tracks telework in state service. But data from two previously unreleased surveys obtained by The Sacramento Bee reveal new insights about departments’ and agencies’ stances on remote work and return-to-office.
3/13/2024 Yahoo! News (Sacramento Bee article): Did California save taxpayer dollars on leased office space during the pandemic? See the data
3/5/2024 Governing (Sacramento Bee article): California’s Telework May End If Program Goes Unfunded
Reporting dataset: Statewide Hybrid Workforce
3/1/2024 Cap Radio: After years of WFH, thousands of state workers are getting called back to the office
The link to the Telework Tracker no longer works: https://telework.dgs.ca.gov/track-telework/
3/2/2023 CoStar News: California Government, One of the State’s Biggest Tenants, To Further Shrink Office Space
1/12/2022 Governing (Sacramento Bee article): California Lets 23 Leases Expire as Workers Stay Remote
Expected savings at that time – $22.5. million annually
4/6/2021 Industry Insider: Newsom Says Most State Workers Should Remain Remote
11/5/2020 Sac Bee: Newsom administration to state officials: Find savings from permanent telework
The letter makes repeated reference to telework, saying departments may find savings by reducing lease space, trimming travel spending and using telework to cut costs such as printing, postage, utilities and transit subsidies.
3/24/2020 Sac Bee: ’Outdated attitude’: Why California wasn’t ready for its state workers to telecommute
In addition to improving performance, morale, health and wellness, teleworking could promote “effective continuation of business” during an emergency, according to 2010 guidance issued by the Department of General Services.
STATE GOVERNMENT LINKS
California Department of General Services Statewide Telework Policy – 0181
Statewide Hybrid Workforce Datasets
Dashboard Data Dictionary
Telework Data
City of Sacramento Climate Action Plan
CalEPA Climate Dashboard – In California, transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 39% of total statewide emissions in 2022. That was before the 2 day per week flexible in office requirement.
Governor’s 2025/26 Budget Proposal
California Climate Crisis Act (AB 1279) / California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program: emissions of greenhouse gases. (SB 100)