Return to Office Trends in Washington, D.C.
Recent data reveals that workers in Washington, D.C. are significantly more likely to return to the office compared to their counterparts nationwide, and much of this change can be traced back to President Trump’s policies.
His executive order aimed at federal employees has dramatically increased the number of individuals working on-site.
Currently, 46% of full-time federal workers in D.C. are back in the office, according to a Gallup Poll released on Wednesday. This figure is more than double the 17% who were present in person at the end of 2024.
In addition, the share of hybrid workers who split their time between remote work and the office has dropped from 61% to just 28% during the same period.
Trump’s executive order was issued on January 20th, his first day in office, mandating that most federal workers return “as much as possible.” The directive emphasized that leaders of all government departments should ensure employees are back at their workstations, while also allowing for some necessary exceptions.
This move came amid a backdrop of remote and hybrid work models that had developed over the years, especially after the pandemic. However, D.C.’s trends starkly contrast with the rest of the country.
Nationally, only 21% of workers are back in the office full-time, according to Gallup data, which is a significant drop from the 60% who were present on-site before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite this, hybrid work arrangements have become the dominant model across the U.S., with 51% of employees opting for a blend of remote and on-site work.
At the same time, the share of fully remote workers in the country was noted at 28% in May 2025, a substantial decrease from the peak of 70% in May 2020.
Trump’s reasoning for this push to bring workers back was to enhance oversight on the work of employees funded by taxpayers.
Government watchdogs have found evidence suggesting that there was an increase in telework abuse during former President Biden’s administration.
Chuck Ezel, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), stated, “The era of telework abuse is over,” reinforcing the idea that the government is working to ensure that federal employees are accountable to taxpayers.
