Dear Board of Regents and Chancellor Sonny Perdue,

The University System of Georgia’s confusing and contentious return-to-office mandate requires all remote/hybrid employees to begin working in person in the Fall 2025 semester. This mandate has been championed by Chancellor Sonny Purdue as means to enhance “collaboration, timely support and student engagement, accountability and institutional reputation,” without any supporting data.

As workers, we know that these talking points are out of touch with the day-to-day operation of the university. Remote work enables faculty, staff, and researchers to collaborate across distance, and work more productively without the distractions of the office environment. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions have invested options for students to receive assistance virtually. The return-to-office mandate would inevitably reduce virtual assistance options, and harm student experience as a result.

Mandatory in-person work will disrupt the lives of numerous employees, many of whom were hired as hybrid/fully remote, or may have health, elder, or child care needs that depend on the flexibility of remote work. Workers will take on the financial burden of increased transportation and parking expenses, and will be forced to spend more time in Atlanta traffic, away from their families. This reduction in the quality of working conditions, increased personal risk, and mounting financial burden are unacceptable. Workers who are unable to comply with the return-to-office mandate will be forced to retire or find new jobs, increasing already high turnover rates.

Beyond the costs incurred on individual workers, ending remote work will require the University System of Georgia to spend larger portions of its budget on acquiring additional office space, renovations, and parking facilities.

We, the United Campus Workers of Georgia, demand that the back-to-office mandate be rescinded. Remote work options are essential to maintaining employee well-being, have been proven to enhance office productivity, and help the USG to compete for and attract the most talented workforce in a competitive labor market. For all of these reasons, remote workers must be allowed to continue their careers under the terms in which they were hired.