Washington DC, aerial view of Pennsylvania Avenue. Agencies use a mix of badge swipes, network logins, self-reporting, or guard tracking to measure attendance, resulting in wide variation of usage data. Image: Orhan Cam/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe GAO has recommended setting government-wide benchmarks on usage of federal office space, saying that agencies differ widely in such measures, complicating efforts to reduce unneeded space.
The report represented the conclusion of an audit that GAO has previewed in earlier testimony before both the House and Senate on high levels of vacant space in light of telework rates that remain higher than pre-pandemic. It noted that in 2021, OMB told agencies to consider space utilization rates in the planning for space but “it did not specify benchmarks for agencies to use.”
In interviews GAO conducted this year, “agency officials said that they have not yet developed utilization benchmarks that account for increased telework.” It said agencies measure their workspaces in a variety of ways, which can result in different measures of capacity even for the same building square footage.
“Furthermore, we found that agencies use a mix of badge swipes, network logins, self-reporting, or guard tracking to measure attendance at their headquarters and generally did not track attendance in the field. These differences feed into additional differences in how agencies measure building capacity,” the report says. “One agency official said that a lack of consistent methods and measurements can contribute to agencies remaining in a wait-and-see mode until there is consensus on how to proceed.”
“Without new benchmarks that account for higher levels of telework, agencies may continue to hold on to more office space than they need, with significant costs for agencies, the environment, and local communities,” GAO said, recommending that OMB lead the Federal Real Property Council in developing such benchmarks.
It said OMB agreed with the recommendation but the report did not include a written response from OMB.
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