When the mayor-elect of Portland announced intentions to return city employees to their desks four days a week, he received his first taste of opposition this week.
In a virtual speech to 1,400 municipal employees on Thursday, incoming Mayor Keith Wilson’s suggestion to return to the office hit like a soggy pancake, according to a public radio broadcast.
In a chatroom linked to the video conferencing program, staff members criticized the concept, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. In late 2022, Mayor Ted Wheeler mandated that office workers work in person 50% of the time.
According to the radio station, one employee wrote, “Decision makers must understand that remote work opportunities are crucial for equity.”
Wilson’s address disregarded the benefits of the city’s hybrid work schedule, such as greater worker flexibility and efficiency, Kari Koch, president of the City of Portland Professional Workers Union, told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Friday.
According to her, hybrid work enables us to be innovative, work together, and address community issues. Working together, rather than passing one another in the corridor every day, is how culture is created.
Koch, a Portland Permitting & Development coordinator, stated that her union’s 800 members, who include information technology professionals and financial analysts, continue to place a high value on flexible schedules.
In 2023, the Portland Building was vacant of desks.Sparling, Zane, and The Oregonian
Although battle lines have been established, it is uncertain whether Wilson would continue the conflict when he assumes office the following year. The incoming chief of staff, Aisling Coghlan, stated on Friday that she was traveling overseas and could not comment, and the mayor-elect did not reply to OPB’s reporting.
Government workers are not the only ones who favor short commutes from their bedrooms to their offices.
According to a recent Oregonian/OregonLive article, over 360,000 Oregonians worked from home in 2023, at least occasionally.Oregon is the second-largest state for hybrid workers, accounting for roughly 18% of the state’s employment.
However, if major business districts remain vacant, some economists have warned of a “doom loop,” claiming that abandoned office skyscrapers will result in declining property tax revenue and empty city coffers.
According to an October newspaper article, Portland’s recently elected 12-member City Council is already facing a dire fiscal outlook that would necessitate a 5% cost reduction.
Wilson, a former CEO, ran for mayor as an outsider with no prior experience in politics, highlighting his ideas to address the homelessness issue and his can-do mentality.Approximately 60% of voters gave him a strong mandate in the city’s first-ever ranked-choice election.
Wilson’s speech indicates that he still needs to adjust to life in the public sector, according to Koch, the union head.
“It’s an odd contest for the new mayor to choose from,” she remarked. I’m hoping Wilson can bounce back from this and become a forward-thinking, visionary mayor who isn’t wearing sepia-toned glasses and is focused on the city’s greatest problems.
For The Oregonian/OregonLive, Zane Sparling reports on court proceedings and breaking news. You may contact him at [email protected], 503-319-7083, or pdxzane.
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