New York Mayor, Eric Adams, will allow thousands of city employees to work remotely two days a week. By doing this, he is extending a benefit that had previously only been granted to unionized workers.
Tens of thousands of non-managerial city workers have been able to work from home two days per week since June under a pilot program developed by Adams’ administration.
Under an expansion of that pilot program, roughly 16,500 non-unionized city employees in managerial roles will be eligible for the two-days-per-week hybrid schedule.
This was announced by Mayor Adams in a statement released by his office Monday morning.
“With the success of our initial remote work pilots for tens of thousands of union-represented employees, we are proud to expand this benefit to the thousands of non-represented public servants who work tirelessly for our city day in and day out,” he said.
The expansion marks an important shift in the city’s stance toward remote work, since Adams was initially reluctant to embrace the new hybrid workplace.
The new benefit may help the city to stem attrition, a problem that began during the pandemic. The city has been struggling to fill vacant positions, although the Mayor recently ordered a hiring freeze amid a looming budget deficit.
The program starts on December 1st and will still not apply to those who need to work in person, such as police and teachers.
