The Real Estate Roundtable has urged the U.S. Senate to consider legislation suspending pandemic-related work-from-home policies for federal employees until agencies have thoroughly examined the social and economic consequences of permanently extending such measures. The House recently passed the Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP) Act in this regard, according to Jeffrey DeBoer, CEO and president of the Roundtable.
In a letter addressed to Senators, DeBoer wrote that while current remote work policy may be beneficial in terms of employee recruitment and retention as well as cost savings, it ignores negative impacts on cities/communities, labor productivity & US economic competitiveness; quality of government services; community safety; public transportation systems etc., which should not be overlooked when making decisions regarding permanent extension or suspension thereof. With federal COVID-19 emergency declarations due to expire on May 11th 2021 , swift action is needed from Congress for an informed decision about these policies going forward
