""Our hope is that the administration will really reconsider this proposal and will work instead collaboratively with us to meet the needs of the taxpayer, but also to really meet the needs of the workforce that is so critical to delivering those services," said Steve Howard, the executive director of the Vermont State Employees' Association."
""With the ability to work remotely, we are able to both retain and attract employees," Howard said, adding that the state government has nearly 900 vacant positions."
""If remote work gets branded as a female, it could be associated with less reliability or less devotion to work," Smith said. "It would take on sort of this 'mommy track' view, and remote jobs will be seen as being less committed, therefore passed up for promotion or recognition.""
Vermont state employees must return to the office three days per week beginning December 1, prompting concerns about recruitment, retention, and work-life balance. The Vermont State Employees' Association represents more than 6,000 employees and links remote flexibility to improved attraction and retention amid nearly 900 state vacancies. Remote work rose sharply after 2019 when only about 7% of workers were fully remote. A 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics study found 29% of men and 36% of women worked remotely. Experts warn that branding remote work as female could stigmatize roles and hinder promotions. A memo allows reasonable accommodations; some agency directors declined interviews.
Read at Vermont Public
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]