Adams doubles down on in-person work, but acknowledges post-COVID reality

[brooklynite]

Source: Gothamist

Mayor Eric Adams continues to insist that municipal office employees work in person as the city continues its economic recovery — but he signaled for the first time that he may allow a limited amount of remote work once the pandemic ends.

“I'm trying to fill up office buildings,” Adams told reporters Wednesday following a breakfast hosted by the civic and real estate group Association for a Better New York. “And I'm telling JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, I'm telling all of them, ‘Listen, I need your people back in the office so we can build the ecosystem.’ How does that look – that city employees are home while I'm telling everyone else it's time to get back to work?”

But, he later added, “There's going to come a time, we may say that, you know, one day a week, we may do some type of different version. We know that post-COVID is a different environment.”

The mayor’s emphasis on in-person work — and his concession that a remote option may one day be a possibility — comes amid an ongoing clash with municipal workers who say the city’s inflexibility is driving many of them to quit. Since last September, most city employees have been working in person, although a small number have been granted accommodation requests to work from home.

Read more: https://gothamist.com/news/adams-doubles-down-on-in-person-work-but-acknowledges-post-covid-reality