Federal Workers Describe Dire Conditions as They Return to Office, Including BYO Toilet Paper and Bringing Garbage Home

[Ghoti Ichthus]

If the offices were empty before the RTW order, how did they get dirty?
If the offices were lightly occupied during and after covid, how did they get dirty?

Federal workers describe dire conditions as they return to office, including BYO toilet paper and bringing garbage home​

Federal workers are being forced to work in the office five days per week in consolidated office space with understaffed cleaning crews and dwindling office supplies​

Ariana Baio
in New York
Tuesday 25 March 2025 14:51 GMT

"Federal workers who have been summoned back into their offices five days per week are being met with less-than-desirable conditions, from cramped workspaces to dirty bathrooms, as the Trump administration seeks to cut costs by reducing space and staff, according to reports.
Following orders from President Donald Trump, government employees are returning to their offices full-time – all while the administration seeks to axe some of its real estate portfolio to reduce government spending.
Multiple federal employees across various agencies and departments have told news outlets they are working elbow-to-elbow as staff consolidates into workspaces.

Understaffed cleaning crews are reportedly struggling to keep up with the demand for tidy spaces, resulting in dirty bathrooms with no paper towels. Some staff have been asked to bring their own toilet paper or help out by taking their trash home, a federal employee told USA Today.
At the NASA headquarters, employees returned to the office last month to cockroaches scuttling across the floor and bugs emerging from water faucets, Matt Biggs, the president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers – the union that represents NASA workers told Reuters."

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Federal workers describe dire conditions returning to office such as BYO toilet paper

Federal workers are being forced to work in the office five days per week in consolidated office space with understaffed cleaning crews and dwindling office supplies

www.independent.co.uk

Sorry for the source, but the USA Today article is behind a paywall

 

[mattfivefour]

If the offices were empty before the RTW order, how did they get dirty?
If the offices were lightly occupied during and after covid, how did they get dirty?

I think these things are the result of people actually returning to work. Based on my lifetime of experience in a large corporation with multiple buildings, it only takes a couple of days or so for an office to become choked with paper waste and washrooms to become pigpens.

 

[Batman]

I agree. The understaffed cleaning crews situation is either due to $ cuts or the unwillingness of the employer candidacy to want to do that type of work; whether due to the type of work itself or the pay rate. We are seeing this everywhere!

 

[Hol]

I agree. The understaffed cleaning crews situation is either due to $ cuts or the unwillingness of the employer candidacy to want to do that type of work; whether due to the type of work itself or the pay rate. We are seeing this everywhere!

Maybe cleaning staff haven’t worked in these buildings for several years. Most govt. offices outsource janitorial stuff and the contracts are often only annual

 

[Andiamo]

Buildings haven’t been sprayed in a while