‘Exodus of employees’: Virginia state workers stop over in-person work coverage

Hundreds of Virginia workers from 5 state companies have resigned since Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) known as for a return to in-person work after greater than two years of working remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Might 5, Youngkin introduced a brand new coverage requiring all state employees to start working in-person full-time by July 5, and data obtained by 8News present greater than 300 workers have resigned for the reason that change was introduced.

“Sadly we’re not stunned by this data,” Virginia Governmental Staff Affiliation lobbyist Dylan Bishop instructed WRIC. “We had anticipated that the shift in coverage would lead to an exodus of employees, which is actually regarding due to the state’s recruitment and retention points.”

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When saying the brand new coverage, Youngkin mentioned it could “stability the calls for of presidency companies with the wants of our public servants.”

“The governor is happy to welcome the Commonwealth’s workforce again in particular person and is inspired by their continued dedication to serving Virginians,” Rob Damschen, Youngkin’s deputy communications director, mentioned in a press release. “We all know an office-centric setting fosters collaboration and teamwork and offers an excellent larger stage of service for all Virginians.”

Virginia’s Division of Transportation suffered the best lack of workers, shedding 183 in complete, 28 of whom cited "telework choices" as the explanation for leaving, the report mentioned. The Virginia Division of Well being, the Virginia Employment Fee, the Division of Housing and Neighborhood Improvement, and the Division of Emergency Administration additionally misplaced workers.

A VGAE survey of 400 state workers final month confirmed that fifty% of respondents had been involved with excessive fuel costs, whereas 25% famous baby care as a purpose for resisting the return to in-person work.

Staff are allowed to submit requests to work remotely for a part of the week. The requests shall be accepted by an company head, cupboard secretary, or Youngkin’s chief of workers, Jeff Goettman, relying on the variety of days requested.