New York City Mayor Eric Adams is reconsidering a requirement that city employees work in the office five days a week because jobs are not being filled.
“We are sending out a survey to our agency, and we are saying to our agency, ‘Come up with a creative way of having flexibility,'” Adams said in a press conference on Tuesday. He was asked about the work-from-home policy because some departments have high vacancy rates.
The survey is a concession to the reality of a still competitive labor market where the ability to work from home is table stakes for those who don’t have to be in the workplace. The lure of other, more flexible employers can be particularly strong for urban workers, whose wages often do not match those of the private sector. Hybrid work is highlighted as a key solution to the agency’s job vacancy crisis in a new report by the New York City Comptroller’s Office.
Some agencies like police and fire departments have seen increases in retirements, while others have seen slow attrition. Two agencies Adams highlighted as recruiting priorities Tuesday include the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which manages the city’s affordable housing, and the Human Resources Administration, which provides social services.
In the past, city agencies could expect a steady stream of applicants, Adams said. Today, government agencies must compete for workers like any other business. Part of the strategy includes rethinking the remote work policy, in addition to increasing recruitment efforts. “There’s a pulse change that you have to go out there now and compete,” Adams said.
Adams launched a five-day return-to-office mandate in June while also trying to convince the CEOs of companies like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to bring workers back to revitalize empty Manhattan neighborhoods. “You can’t stay home in your pajamas all day,” Adams said of the city’s isolated workforce at last year’s event.
Cracks in Adams’ resolve have also appeared in recent union negotiations. SSEU Local 371, which represents about 20,000 city social service workers, has pushed the administration to allow remote work. part of their new contract.
The popularity of working from home has emerged as an existential threat to cities, which depend on the income, sales and property tax revenues available in vibrant cities. Manhattan workers spend at least $12.4 billion less a year because they miss 30% of their days at the office, according to a new Bloomberg News analysis.
Although flexible working policies may be on the table, Adams expressed concern about the equity implications for those whose work must be privately held. “You can’t have a dual labor system, if you have Black, Brown, low-income New Yorkers coming into the office every day, and affluent, high-income New Yorkers not coming into the office,” Adams said. in a Fox 5 interview in December. “We’re going to do a survey of all employees to say, ‘Give us your thoughts. But if you give us your thoughts, tell us how we can compensate those who can’t stay at home.'”
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