The CDC has told Atlanta employees to return to on-site work by September 15 after a gunman opened fire outside its headquarters about five weeks earlier. Employees had been instructed to work remotely immediately after the shooting and later offered voluntary returns, but the agency issued a firmer directive in an August 28 email from COO Lynda Chapman. The agency said safety remains its top priority and will provide alternate workspace for staff whose offices were affected. The move comes amid leadership changes, broader staffing reductions and a wider trend of federal and major employers scaling back remote-work policies.
The announcement, first reported by CNBC, comes roughly five weeks after a gunman opened fire outside the agency's Atlanta headquarters, killing a police officer before fatally shooting himself. "Your safety remains our top priority. We are taking necessary steps to restore our workplace and will return to regular on-site operations no later than Monday, September 15," Lynda Chapman, the CDC's chief operating officer, said in an August 28 email viewed by CNBC.
Following the shooting, CDC employees were instructed to work remotely and later given the option to return voluntarily. The latest email marks a firmer directive to resume in-person work. The CDC will provide alternate workspaces on its campus for staff whose offices were affected by the shooting, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson told CNN. The HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Under the Trump administration, the CDC has asked many employees to work regularly from the office, reversing more flexible arrangements made during the Biden administration. It's been more than five years since the pandemic ushered in widespread remote work. Over the past year, the federal government and major employers - including tech giants and Wall Street banks - have scaled back flexible work policies.
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