More Than 300 State Employees Resign After Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin Curbs Remote Work

The end of remote work in the Virginia state government has brought on a wave of resignations.

After Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a new telework policy in early May that required many employees to return to the office full time, more than 300 workers resigned, Richmond ABC affiliate 8News reported, citing state records it obtained. 

The ABC affiliate filed Freedom of Information Act requests to seven agencies, and it found that five of them had recent resignations, including 183 from the Virginia Department of Transportation. The Virginia government has more than 57,000 total employees across dozens of agencies. 

Youngkin rolled out a new policy May 5 that required all employees to return to their on-site job location by July 5, unless they apply for and receive approval for a teleworking option.  

Youngkin's policy was criticized by the Virginia Government Employees Association, which released a survey in June finding gas prices and childcare among the top reasons employees wanted to continue working from home.

A VGEA lobbyist also called the policy "unworkable," urging the governor's office to grant greater flexibility to state agencies, 8News reported.

Not all of the employees who have resigned since May cited telework as the reason for their departure. In the Department of Transportation, 28 gave "telework options" as the reason. 

The news comes as office owners continue to push for more workers to come back to their buildings, and as other public employers mull just how much they can bring back workers.

In D.C., that has led to consternation from a business community that sees the federal government's piecemeal return to in-person work as "very concerning."