Federal workers return to the office — but not the one they left

Federal public servants returning to the office after years working from home are adjusting to a new emphasis: shared work spaces, rather than a cubicle to call their own.

This hybrid work model is shifting tens of thousands of employees back to in-person work a few days a week. With it comes a host of complications, from making sure they have the right technical hookups to organizing schedules so team members can truly be face-to-face.

Unions have pointed to "chaos," saying there aren't enough desks and that some employees have even worked on the floor.

But while the federal government went on a hiring spree during the pandemic — core departments grew by 17,600 people from 2019 to 2022 in the capital region alone — the change in office style isn't due to a lack of space but rather a rethink that was already in motion.

"The pandemic has really just accelerated that," said Stéphan Déry, the assistant deputy minister at Public Services and Procurement Canada in charge of office needs and real estate across the country.

Some public servants never left their scientific labs, ships, or border crossings to work remotely, while others still have their dedicated cubicles of old.

For many others, however, the new norm involves booking a desk and storing their belongings in a locker for the day, then carrying their laptops home in a backpack. 

On a snowy January morning in Ottawa, several public servants spoke to CBC about the challenges, but none wanted to give their full names for fear of reprisal at work.

One said she often arrives to find someone else has taken the desk she reserved. That day, her team hadn't managed to book workstations together, so each member planned to log onto a video call from different floors and buildings on the same government campus.

She said she preferred having a cubicle of her own. 

"I think losing that sense of permanence really brings down morale. It does for me at least. I feel like I'm no longer a person, just a number."

"We're not Google," said another public servant, who felt the idea of flexible office space might make sense in theory to bosses but not in real life. As for the hybrid work model, he called it "disorganized."

Still another pointed out that many of the people hired during the pandemic don't live anywhere near an office in Ottawa-Gatineau.

For him, the big question will be how they "collaborate" in the way the Treasury Board intends.