GOP Rep Uses His Phone to Test Witness’ Claim SSA Telework Improved Customer Service – IOTW Report

GOP Rep Uses His Phone to Test Witness’ Claim SSA Telework Improved Customer Service

Twitchy- The Covid pandemic started about five years ago, and the government adjusted accordingly when it comes to remote work, and it appears that many agencies don’t want to return to normal. The Social Security Administration among them. As a matter of fact, the SSA recently extended their telework policy: 

The Social Security Administration and its largest union last week finalized a deal to instill the agency’s current telework policy in the parties union contract until at least 2029, roiling Republicans intent on ending the practice.

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Field office workers are allowed two days of telework per week, while most Office of Hearings Operations employees work between three and four days per week from home. Remote workers make up 1.3% of the agency’s workforce. more here

5 Comments on GOP Rep Uses His Phone to Test Witness’ Claim SSA Telework Improved Customer Service

  1. I’ve been working for the same gubmint contractor for 18 years. The past 12 years 100% remotely. I’ve gotten stellar yearly reviews the entire time. I’m a systems analyst and build, modify, and maintain a plethora of automated data engineering systems. Working in a office wouldn’t help me do my job better one bit, and here’s why:

    — Showering, dressing up, and commuting sucks. Whereas it takes 90 minutes from pillow to office seat in the morning for office work, I go from pillow to work in 15 minutes with remote work. This gives me more hours to work and quicker reaction time to emergencies.

    — At the office, I’d get interrupted ten times per day by assholes too lazy to read the fucking manual or simply trying to get me to do their job for them by masking it as a technical query. At home, most of those queries are IMed which allows me to manage my work hours better and ignore requests that are inappropriate freeloading.

    — I curse like a Marine. No one likes being around me in an office. And, for the most part, the feeling is mutual.

    — I am independently motivated to do my job. I don’t need some asshole breathing down my neck to get my job done. I fact, the last asshole who tried that lost their job because they drove me off and their department productivity dropped to near zero.

    Not everyone is built for remote work. Some people are lazy. Some are not smart enough to function with out a nearby colleague to use as an intellectual or emotional crutch. That ain’t me.

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  2. I’m retired HR. IN CONCEPT, I like work-from-home. In practice, it has several problems. First is the difficulty of measuring productivity. Second, is monitoring the quality of work being performed. Then there are questions when the workers claim overtime is required. There are also a lot of peripheral questions. Can a supervisor visit a worker in his home? What about OSHA issues? Is the employer required to buy lights, desks, and chairs that are OSHA compliant? What about work-place injuries when the workplace is the home? What about other equipment aka computers and internet? Standardized computers, sure, but will tech support have to make “house calls?” Then there is the argument about the synergy of employees working together: can you build a team out of people who meet once a week st most?

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  3. There are a lot of factors, but like TheMule I find that when I work remote for an employer I can be more responsive, more efficient, and get more done. But a manager would definitely need to establish and monitor metrics to ensure that is the case. It absolutely creates an environment that slackers can take advantage of if there is no management keeping an eye on their productivity. To speak nothing of team morale, mission focus, and drive – if you own a company and want it to grow, remote may be fine for support functions but not for the core business. Person to person contact is important.

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