Fork in the road letter

[Fireflyfishing]

Whoever said these letters and lead up look Jinky AF is 100% right. We get pinged with fake Phishing emails as a drill on occasion. I assumed it was fake. I'm under DHS and believe we just received and email stating we are not eligible. For sure seemed like a scam...I just delete or Report to Phishing.

Don't know if am jealous or resentful of those teleworking? I guess I understood it during C-19. But I for sure feel it's been terribly abused. I am in a position not afforded a telework agreement. Why do I have to burn my own fuel, vehicle mileage, wake up on time, report on time, etc...for the same wage as those who roll out of the rack and log in.....and do Phuck All.

I've literally needed to call "for authorization" in some instances with kids bawling in the background, or people at parties while on the clock who can't hear me due to the music. Resign or get back in the office on the clock. Sorry

No disagreement. However, many agencies have been shifting to a remote workforce for 20ish years. Part of the reasoning is less footprint of federal buildings…cost savings. Explain to me where and how everyone just goes back to the office.

I’m happy to go back to an office. I’ve been told I’m not allowed to find a solution to that problem and folks from the department level will figure it out. Hmmm, k.

 

[Wrench]

 

[.204smokechaser]

I’ve heard of one GS Fantastic eligible for retirement that took it. If I was close to retirement, I wouldn’t take it as the potential for stuff to get screwed up is real with what we’ve received in our inboxes about this offer at USDA.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

@Fireflyfishing I don't really know how to articulate my irritation, and it's probably specific to my employment.

But I've watch 100s of people make the sacrifices uprooting their family, kids in schools, losing money on home sales. etc......to land that epic job in Pinedale, Wyoming (insert your favorite small western town in the epicenter of your favorite outdoor passion).

The "Telework" gig is kinda like unlimited, no draw, no points Non Resident tags.


Probably shitty anaology. But that's my ax I'm grinding.

You were hired at the office in geographic location X......you were afforded to telework. Maybe the office is in Dallas/Ft Worth.

But you MOVED to Pinedale, Wyoming because you were afforded to telework, which was very non traditional and never been done before.......and the boss is saying "Yea....telework is over and we'll see you on Monday".


Those are the folks I have minimal remorse for

 

[PLhunter]

That's good to hear. The federal grant nonsense needs serious reform or to be ended permanently.

Be interesting to see if the $856 million musk gets in federal grants and subsidies is included in the freeze. Already, ousted the person investigating SpaceX for safety violations.

Some grants are what has kept us so globally competitive in research and innovation. The grant system has some wild success stories. This whole thing is a show and being very poorly executed. Even if one wants to believe the end goals are altruistic the execution is terribly amateur and hardly screams best and brightest.

 

[PLhunter]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/

Haven’t sworn an oath to uphold the constitution. Have no oversight, aren’t public employees, have no real legal authority and are accessing the personal information of all federal workers while locking those out with legal access. These are the 20 something year old hackers making those emails with no means or authority to come through on any promise. Kakistocracy at its finest.

MMW you take the offer and you’re getting stiffed just like every single person who has ever dealt with these two in their lives. lol, you think you’ll be the special exception?

 

[2531usmc]

@Fireflyfishing I don't really know how to articulate my irritation, and it's probably specific to my employment.

But I've watch 100s of people make the sacrifices uprooting their family, kids in schools, losing money on home sales. etc......to land that epic job in Pinedale, Wyoming (insert your favorite small western town in the epicenter of your favorite outdoor passion).

The "Telework" gig is kinda like unlimited, no draw, no points Non Resident tags.


Probably shitty anaology. But that's my ax I'm grinding.

You were hired at the office in geographic location X......you were afforded to telework. Maybe the office is in Dallas/Ft Worth.

But you MOVED to Pinedale, Wyoming because you were afforded to telework, which was very non traditional and never been done before.......and the boss is saying "Yea....telework is over and we'll see you on Monday".


Those are the folks I have minimal remorse for

For those that moved far away from their home office, I can’t imagine how they thought remote telework would be forever. They had to realize that 100% remote telework would end some day with a Presidential directive.

So I really can’t feel sorry for someone that moved away, bought a house, and thought it would last forever.

 

[ODB]

Do you guys working from home ever think AI will be replacing your job?

This is a good question. As a technical writer, it might seem my job is an easy-peasy slam dunk AI target, except that the amount of knowledge you need to verify the information it is spitting out is pretty large. Otherwise you are rolling on a wing and a prayer.

I have seen ChatGPT almost destroy the entire GTIN (global trade item number - glorified UPCs) scheme for a company - that is until I caught the error. Over-reliance on these technologies turns people into dumb terminals, even more so than the internet in general.

I don't think AI is as slam-dunk as people think. I think there will be segments where it fits in, but we still live in a human world. AI will be a good accessory, but until it has the ability to judge itself against the ever-changing real work, it will remain a tool.

FYI I have worked remote since 2017 - long before COVID and was the first remote worker in my 350-person company.

 

[PLhunter]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/31/elon-musk-treasury-department-payment-systems/

lol, non-government employees with zero oversight demanding unfettered unsupervised access to a 6 trillion dollar payment system. What could go wrong. We are about to see the greatest heist of all time. lol, not only are you not getting that package but your retirement and pension is ****** too. How could we have known they’d go full retard.

 

[TaperPin]

There’s a competition/cooperation/reward game that’s played every year in universities around the country. Undergrads volunteer and make a few bucks or so in the end, based on self serving decisions made in the game.

The results are always the same. If two people cooperate they will both make more money, but if one person thinks the other is making slightly more in the same transaction, they will gladly sabotage it so both are equally worse off. It’s a great lesson in human behavior, and fits remote working perfectly.

Even if the office has to be reconfigured to make room for teleworkers to return, and everyone is cramped, and computer systems work slower, the team as a whole is less productive, break rooms are more of a mess, and there’s twice as much pee on the floor around the toilets, the office workers, or people outside looking in, will be glad the remote folks are back. It’s human nature.

 

[flathead#2]

I did the grind for 16 years in a place I did not care for before I landed my work from home gig
in a much better place.
No apologies from me, I've paid my dues and then some.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

@Fireflyfishing I don't really know how to articulate my irritation, and it's probably specific to my employment.

But I've watch 100s of people make the sacrifices uprooting their family, kids in schools, losing money on home sales. etc......to land that epic job in Pinedale, Wyoming (insert your favorite small western town in the epicenter of your favorite outdoor passion).

The "Telework" gig is kinda like unlimited, no draw, no points Non Resident tags.


Probably shitty anaology. But that's my ax I'm grinding.

You were hired at the office in geographic location X......you were afforded to telework. Maybe the office is in Dallas/Ft Worth.

But you MOVED to Pinedale, Wyoming because you were afforded to telework, which was very non traditional and never been done before.......and the boss is saying "Yea....telework is over and we'll see you on Monday".


Those are the folks I have minimal remorse for

I get your frustration and have no arguments about rampant gov’t waste and needed reform, or even people showing up to the office for work.

Telework and remote work are two different things, however. If you were hired for a physical office duty location and have somehow moved to another location and are claiming telework, there is a serious issue right there. In my agency, telework still requires employees to physically show up to their office at least one day/week, two days/pay period. If supervisors and employees are breaking this protocol, that’s on them and they deserve the possible disciplinary actions owed to them. Removing telework and having employees be at the office everyday of their required tour off duty is not a big deal, from my perspective anyways.

Remote work, on the other hand, allows for residence anywhere. So if an employee is hired under these circumstances and guarantees, how is it fair or legal to pull the rug out from these employees and make them show up to a physical location? This is clearly an adverse action against the employee. If this employee is worth the squeeze, how is this administration retaining employees through merit? So do we remove these folks and rehire someone to replace them to make the blanket agenda work? Sounds like gov’t waste to me…this will vacate positions and cause a bog in hiring. Not to mention, there is a hiring freeze that has no end date.

Further, with the hostile, toxic environment created with this Fork letter, who wants to come to work for the Feds now? If we’re going to get the “best of the best” to work for the Feds, will the Feds pay higher wages to attract these “best of the best” employees? If not, how are you going to fill positions in undesirable or unaffordable locations? Take SoCal for instance, I would like to know how the “best of the best” are hired for entry or professional level positions in an expensive and undesirable (IMO) location.

 

[PLhunter]

Mind you no one in the DOGE program going through our information is vetted. They could very well be foreign assets. They are just people who curried Musk’s favor and were given complete access to our systems with a brash and ill conceived executive order. How valuable would having that position be to a foreign power knowing that the guardrails are off.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

For those that moved far away from their home office, I can’t imagine how they thought remote telework would be forever. They had to realize that 100% remote telework would end some day with a Presidential directive.

So I really can’t feel sorry for someone that moved away, bought a house, and thought it would last forever.

See my post (#52) above.

 

[PLhunter]

I get your frustration and have no arguments about rampant gov’t waste and needed reform, or even people showing up to the office for work.

Telework and remote work are two different things, however. If you were hired for a physical office duty location and have somehow moved to another location and are claiming telework, there is a serious issue right there. In my agency, telework still requires employees to physically show up to their office at least one day/week, two days/pay period. If supervisors and employees are breaking this protocol, that’s on them and they deserve the possible disciplinary actions owed to them. Removing telework and having employees be at the office everyday of their required tour off duty is not a big deal, from my perspective anyways.

Remote work, on the other hand, allows for residence anywhere. So if an employee is hired under these circumstances and guarantees, how is it fair or legal to pull the rug out from these employees and make them show up to a physical location? This is clearly an adverse action against the employee. If this employee is worth the squeeze, how is this administration retaining employees through merit? So do we remove these folks and rehire someone to replace them to make the blanket agenda work? Sounds like gov’t waste to me…this will vacate positions and cause a bog in hiring. Not to mention, there is a hiring freeze that has no end date.

Further, with the hostile, toxic environment created with this Fork letter, who wants to come to work for the Feds now? If we’re going to get the “best of the best” to work for the Feds, will the Feds pay higher wages to attract these “best of the best” employees? If not, how are you going to fill positions in undesirable or unaffordable locations? Take SoCal for instance, I would like to know how the “best of the best” are hired for entry or professional level positions in an expensive and undesirable (IMO) location.

This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It’s to install loyalist in those positions who will follow any and all orders. One of those loyalist recently installed even stepped down today over Elon’s non-sworn in crew demanding access to our payment system. Even a loyalist was like, “**** this is too far”

 

[Fireflyfishing]

This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It’s to install loyalist in those positions who will follow any and all orders. One of those loyalist recently installed even stepped down today over Elon’s non-sworn in crew demanding access to our payment system. Even a loyalist was like, “**** this is too far”

I’m not familiar with your reference. Do you have a an article you can share?
Edit: just saw the link you posted, but I don’t have a subscription to WaPo.

I think this administration believes this will fix the federal gov’t. What they don’t realize, nobody likes working under a fear based leadership organization…especially when the pay isn’t great and there is no job security. They may have success chasing folks out, but they will struggle to replace folks they’ve lost. Some positions require a career’s worth of time, experience, and qualifications to acquire and maintain the position. By policy, you cannot just fill these positions with anyone.

Additionally, they’re achieving their aims with executive orders and not hard, set in stone legislation from congress. This means the courts can and will strike some of these orders down. As shown this last week with grant funding that shut down many facets of the gov’t…only to be rolled back by the administration. When the next administration arrives all these EOs can be reversed.

It’s not well thought out, IMO.

 

[PLhunter]

I’m not familiar with your reference. Do you have a an article you can share?

I think this administration believes this will fix the federal gov’t. What they don’t realize, nobody likes working under a fear based leadership organization…especially when the pay isn’t great and there is no job security. They may have success chasing folks out, but they will struggle to replace folks they’ve lost. Some positions require a career’s worth of time, experience, and qualifications to acquire and maintain the position. By policy, you cannot just fill these positions with anyone.

Additionally, they’re achieving their aims with executive orders and not hard, set in stone legislation from congress. This means the courts can and will strike some of these orders down. As shown this last week with grant funding that shut down many facets of the gov’t…only to be rolled back by the administration. When the next administration arrives all these EOs can be reversed.

It’s not well thought out, IMO.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/31/elon-musk-treasury-department-payment-systems/

Optimistic of you to think there will be a next administration. They are following project 2025 line for line.

 

[PLhunter]

I’m not familiar with your reference. Do you have a an article you can share?
Edit: just saw the link you posted, but I don’t have a subscription to WaPo.

I think this administration believes this will fix the federal gov’t. What they don’t realize, nobody likes working under a fear based leadership organization…especially when the pay isn’t great and there is no job security. They may have success chasing folks out, but they will struggle to replace folks they’ve lost. Some positions require a career’s worth of time, experience, and qualifications to acquire and maintain the position. By policy, you cannot just fill these positions with anyone.

Additionally, they’re achieving their aims with executive orders and not hard, set in stone legislation from congress. This means the courts can and will strike some of these orders down. As shown this last week with grant funding that shut down many facets of the gov’t…only to be rolled back by the administration. When the next administration arrives all these EOs can be reversed.

It’s not well thought out, IMO.

Basically the issue is Elon’s non vetted, non contracted, non sworn in, cronies demanded access to our government payment systems. The acting head of the treasury appointed by Trump refused and was ousted,

 

[2531usmc]

See my post (#52) above.

Be it telework or remote work as Federal employees:
-The number of non Federal employees/taxpayers that believe a federal employee can be fully engaged for months/years/decades away from any office and with minimal physical interaction is just about zero. One could interpret this as remote federal employees sticking a finger in the taxpayer’s eyes.
-As a federal employee myself, I have seen remote and telework employees drift away from being not just fully engaged but even being minimally engaged. The entitlement is amazing, they will fight tooth and nail to not to come into the office no matter how important the issue
-If a federal employee is performing poorly in an office setting, good luck fighting the union to change his performance. In a remote work environment….well, you might as well yell at the moon to get better behavior

But I go back to my earlier comment….did these people really think remote work would continue forever? They must have if they bought homes far removed from the parent organization.

I don’t think it’s a matter of being fair or unfair. It’s simply that these employees made a risk based decision. Sometimes the risky bet pays off and sometimes it does not.

 

[S.Clancy]

I don't think anyone involved has done any sort of calculation into the fallout and unintended consequences of all this. This is "I don't like it, so let's burn it down."