Oregon employees navigate balance between in-person and remote work - Statesman Journal

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Published: Aug 31st, 2022
Oregon employees navigate balance between in-person and remote work - Statesman Journal

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About 23% of state agency employees are still working remotely full time while 58% are working in person full time, according to state data.
An employee engagement survey from the Oregon Reopening Advisory Team within the Department of Administrative Services in June 2021 showed that 80% of the 19,500 state employees surveyed were working remotely at the time.
While 80% of the respondents stated they would like to continue working remotely at least three to five days per week, an increasing number have transitioned back to in-person work full-time.
Data from the Department of Administrative Services reveals that of the agencies and employees participating in the working remotely process within Workday, 20% worked remotely full time and 58% worked in-person full time as of late August.
The Public Employees Retirement System had the highest number of state employees reporting to still be working remotely full time at 79%.

Oregon employees navigate balance between in-person and remote work - Statesman Journal

As COVID-19 spread and Oregon put restrictions in place, many employers transitioned to work from home. Employees gathered their monitors, perhaps their favorite office chairs and designed workstations in their apartments and homes. Many have juggled daily home life and Zoom meetings since 2019, waiting for news about a return to the office or a permanent transition to remote work. Some are eager to return to an office and have face-to-face connections with co-workers. Others have found success working from home, and want to stay there. As the number of vaccinated grew past 70% and cases ebbed, employers and workers have begun to feel their way through what the workplace may look like going forward. State office buildings that have been closed to the general public reopened May 1. And as Salem's largest employer, many are watching how state government manages the transition back to the office. So far, it's a mixed bag. About 23% of state agency employees are still working remotely full time while 58% are working in person full time, according to state data. Workers in other industries are forging their own new habits, including some in Salem who have turned to co-working spaces such as The Clubhouse to find connections and camaraderie while staying out of a traditional office. State agencies go back to the office More than 98% of employees statewide were working nearly fully in-office in 2019, according to data from the Department of Administrative Services. That number dropped to 64% in 2020. An employee engagement survey from the Oregon Reopening Advisory Team within the Department of Administrative Services in June 2021 showed that 80% of the 19,500 state employees surveyed were working remotely at the time. While 80% of the respondents stated they would like to continue working remotely at least three to five days per week, an increasing number have transitioned back to in-person work full-time. Data from the Department of Administrative Services reveals that of the agencies and employees participating in the working remotely process within Workday, 20% worked remotely full time and 58% worked in-person full time as of late August. Workday, an HR management program, is also used by non-state employees for trainings and for anyone wanting to apply for a state job. Numbers pulled from Workday show that another 22% of state employees are working a hybrid schedule. The Public Employees Retirement System had the highest number of state employees reporting to still be working remotely full time at 79%. Oregon Housing and Community Services was second with 67% still working remotely. The Public Utility Commission had the highest number of employees reporting to be hybrid with 96%. Five state agencies reported being 100% in-person: the Board of Naturopathic Medicine, District Attorneys and their Deputies, Oregon State Board of Geologist Examiners, the State Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and the Tax Practitioners Board. There could be several reasons why certain agencies have fewer remote employees but it is largely because some industries must be in-person. Data from the Oregon Employment Department hints at a growing labor force that cannot work remotely. A recovering in-person economy A look at the transition outside of state agencies is harder to track. Oregon Employment Department does not track remote work and has no specific data on the number or types of employers offering remote work to their employees. However, it continues to track labor force trends, Nicole Ramos, workforce analyst for the Oregon Employment Department, said. For example, Ramos said, from July 2021 to July 2022, the construction industry was the fastest growing industry in Salem with a 7.6% change. “This industry is very much an in-person industry,” Ramos said. “We also see job growth in other industries where remote work is possible, but the year-over-year growth in those industries was not as large.” The second fastest growing industry was manufacturing and the third was “other services.” Education and health services came in fourth at 1.7%. The state also continues to recover from the loss of jobs during the pandemic. While there were nearly 100,000 more Oregonians working this spring than in February 2020, recovery is not complete, state employment economist Gail Krumenauer said. Self-employment remains below its historical high in Oregon but the share of Oregon’s labor force working for themselves is above the pre-recession level and trending up, she said. Another factor contributing to new highs in household-based employment could be that more Oregonians are working physically or remotely for an employer in another state, Krumenauer said. “Prior to the pandemic, Oregon was one of the most prominent states for working from home. The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey shows that from 2016 to 2020…9.4% of Oregon workers ages 16 and older worked from home,” Krumenauer said. That is the third highest among all states and the District of Columbia, according to Krumenauer. “To be clear, we do not know how many of these workers or these types of jobs may be doing specifically remote self-employment or remote gig work from home for a payroll employer, but it’s possible that some of them are,” Krumenauer added. Oregonians were also more likely to work from home at least part of the time due to pandemic reasons from 2020 into early 2022, she said. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics began collecting supplemental data on pandemic-related telework in the spring of 2020. In each month from May 2020 through April 2022, Oregon had a larger share of teleworkers due to the pandemic than the U.S, Krumenauer said. Salem fosters connections for remote workers Some of the remote workers in Salem can be found in a small and intimate space located off of State Street at The Clubhouse. The co-working space designed for women opened in February. Founder Ellen Yin described the space as "a physical extension" of the online community that she has built over the past five years. Yin moved to Salem about two years ago and found the space last fall. She grew up in Corvallis. She thought Salem was lacking a space for women to safely gather and collaborate, and set out to create it herself. It also came from a desire for in-person camaraderie and community Yin felt she was missing having worked remotely for years, she said. "Being able to work for yourself but not by yourself," she said. With a membership at The Clubhouse, remote workers have access to the shared spaces Monday through Friday and can come in and sit anywhere that's open. The space is furnished, has strong Wi-Fi, and has a kitchen stocked with snacks and drinks. There is also a social membership option for people wanting to get out of their home environment once in a while to connect with other entrepreneurs or other women in business. Yin said she decided to open the space in Salem for a variety of reasons. She had been looking in both the Portland and Salem markets. "I have been just so pleasantly surprised by the community in Salem," Yin said. "The business community, I feel, is much more active and engaged than what I've experienced in the past." The potential in Salem was echoed by Rose Wilder, another remote worker in Salem who lives on a farm in Lacomb, a community of fewer than 500. The mother of six and grandmother of 12 has a brick-and-mortar day spa and a small farm with sanctuary animals in the mountains of Lacomb. Her passion prior to the pandemic had been, for years, to dive into and expand women's programs. When the pandemic began, Wilder launched virtual women's programs. Running those programs from the farm became increasingly difficult and Wilder began looking for an alternative. She's been working remotely in Salem since The Clubhouse opened. Salem offers a little of everything, she said. It's also easy for clients that are coming to see her in person to meet in Salem. "The infrastructure is very friendly to remote workers and workers that may work at other places as well. I also love that if I want to meet someone for food there's a huge variety of offerings and of course shopping. It just has everything," she said. While Yin recognizes that more industries are returning to their offices, she's encouraged by the growth overall in the support for continued remote working. In addition to The Clubhouse, Salem has several other co-working spaces, including Co.W and The Gray Lab. The success of the spaces and her connection with the other owners "speaks to that idea of collaboration and community" in Salem. "I just love being in an environment like that," Yin said.
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