For the past five years, remote work has increased employee well-being and productivity for staff across the University System of Georgia. The USG has claimed that eliminating remote work will enhance “collaboration, timely support and student engagement, accountability and institutional reputation,” without any supporting data.

As workers, we know that this is out of touch with the day-to-day operation of our universities. Remote work enables faculty and staff to connect with students across distances, and work more productively without the distractions of the office environment. The return-to-office mandate will exacerbate ongoing issues with under-staffing and high turnover, further reducing the quality of the student-staff interactions. This cruel and unnecessary mandate will also overburden our infrastructure. Institutions will divert millions of dollars to fund office space and parking additions — money that could otherwise be spent on serving students and increasing wages.

The end of remote work has profoundly disrupted the lives of numerous employees, many of whom were hired as hybrid/fully remote, or who have health, elder, or child care needs that depend on the flexibility of remote work. Workers have taken on the financial burden of increased transportation and parking expenses, and have been forced to spend more time in traffic, away from their families. This reduction in the quality of working conditions, increased personal risk, and mounting financial burden are unacceptable.

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. To continue to provide excellent support for the record number of enrolled students in Georgia, employee well-being must be accounted for and workers must have a say in the operations of the institutions that would cease to function without them.

We, the United Campus Workers of Georgia and the undersigned, demand the University System of Georgia restore remote work arrangements for staff and rescind the return-to-office mandate.