The CBO said that prior to the pandemic, estimates were that 60 percent to 70 percent of employees reported to a federal office building on an average day but that current estimates put the figure at about 30 percent. Image: Gill Thompson/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA House bill (HR-6276) calling for more consolidation of underused federal office space in light of telework levels remaining substantially higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic has been readied for floor voting, with issuance of a Congressional Budget Office assessment on the “Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies”—or “Use It”—Act.
The bill would require the GSA and the OMB to establish standards to measure occupancy in public buildings and federally leased space, following a GAO report saying that excess space is difficult to quantify because agencies measure occupancy rates in different ways. Agencies in turn would have to use those standards to report on their occupancy rates.
The GSA in turn would have to take actions to increase usage in buildings consistently below 60 percent usage, “including consolidating the tenant agency with another agency, selling or disposing of excess capacity space, and adjusting space requirements, as appropriate, for any replacement space.”
The CBO said that prior to the pandemic, estimates were that 60 percent to 70 percent of employees reported to a federal office building on an average day but that current estimates put the figure at about 30 percent.
“Beginning in 2020, GSA has been piloting new methods to collect occupancy data in federal buildings. In 2022, about three-quarters of federal occupants of buildings managed by GSA reported that they were tracking such data. Using that occupancy data, GSA reports it has been able to consolidate some offices in the District of Columbia, and CBO expects that consolidation reduced costs for annual rent,” it says.
In addition, it notes that OMB in April of last year directed agencies to increase onsite work—a directive the administration later reinforced in a message to agencies.
“Consistent with direction from OMB, CBO expects that building usage rates will rise going forward as agencies increase in-person work requirements. Additionally, CBO expects that GSA will continue to consolidate office space consistent with the agency’s ongoing programs, to the extent that usage rates of federal buildings remain low,” the assessment says.
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