“Go to work”…signal to Trump’s $18 billion federal government diet
Click to enlarge image U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. President-elect Trump announced large-scale government restructuring. Photo = Reuters Former President-elect Donald Trump foreshadowed major surgery in the federal government by selecting Tesla CEO Elon Musk as head of the Government Efficiency Committee when the next administration is launched. There are 2.3 million U.S. federal government employees, of which 1 million work from home, and 230,000 of them are fully remote workers. The Trump-Musk plan goes beyond simple budget reductions and predicts a revolution in the organizational culture of the federal government, but it is unlikely to be smooth sailing as there are numerous challenges to solve, such as union opposition, legal procedures, and concerns about talent outflow.
Barron’s, a business magazine, reported on the 13th (local time) that the key is to have more than 1 million federal government telecommuters return to the office, and that the plan is to achieve annual budget savings of 18 billion dollars (about 18 trillion won) by encouraging voluntary retirement. .
According to the industry, the industry predicts that at least 25% of people will choose voluntary retirement when the second Trump administration orders full attendance to work. Elon Musk has a precedent of 15% resigning from ‘Space there is.
By department, the U.S. Treasury is expected to be hit the hardest, with only 35.7% of those working from home attending the office. The Ministry of Agriculture has a high office attendance rate of 81%. This suggests that the intensity of restructuring may be differentiated by ministry.
The problem is the union’s opposition. The union membership rate in the U.S. federal government reaches 60%. Federal government unions have already announced this. It is known that they are preparing a legal response that will take at least a year, starting with a request for collective bargaining, grievance handling, and arbitration procedures. In particular, the Ministry of Education is expected to resist the most strongly as most of its 2,800 employees are fully remote workers.
Sheria Smith, head of the education union, predicted a strong response, saying, “It is illegal to unilaterally deprive people of their rights under the collective agreement.”
Since the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) union has signed a contract guaranteeing eight days of telework per two weeks starting in 2023, a legal battle seems inevitable if full attendance orders are issued.
The union has also proven the effectiveness of working from home. The Ministry of Finance’s own survey claims that the work throughput of teleworkers was 15% higher than that of office workers, and customer satisfaction was also excellent. The Ministry of Finance’s union claims that “remote work is not just a welfare benefit, but a modern work method to improve productivity.”
Another problem is the expected conflict of interest when Musk takes office as chairman. Space
Experts point out that “it is a serious conflict of interest for the person leading the government reorganization to also serve as CEO of the company that will benefit the most.”
Accordingly, there are growing voices calling for complete exclusion from decision-making regarding federal government contracts and limiting access to related information. This could become a subject of union attacks on Musk during the restructuring process.
The Trump-Musk initiative goes beyond simple budget reduction and heralds a revolution in the federal government’s organizational culture. However, a mountain of challenges, such as union opposition, legal procedures, and concerns about talent outflow, are predicting an uneasy journey.
Global Economics Reporter Park Jeong-han [email protected]
