Thousands of FDA Employees Return to Office
Several years after remote, work-from-home convenience, thousands of FDA employees returned to work 3/17 only to be met with parking congestion and slow security line clearances. Local News 4 (Washington, DC) visited FDA’s headquarters in White Oak, MD for a closer look and reported that there were small backups to get into the campus, but said overall “traffic looked like it went relatively smoothly Monday morning.”
A reporter spoke to one employee named Paula who had not returned to work in person since Covid-19 began (March 2020). “I just wish it was more hybrid," she said. "Maybe one or two days would be good.” Paula said she felt bad for some workers who had no place to work and were left to share conference room space. She said that she heard that some employees had to go to their cars to get on virtual meetings on their phones and that “they don’t have the privacy to talk to somebody about work.”
An Associated Press report said many employees had to deal with broken desks, missing chairs and locked offices for which they didn’t have keys. “All of the staff is definitely bending over backwards to make an impossible situation work and get their work done,” one employee told the AP. “People are looting chairs from conference rooms and other buildings,” a staffer said. “We have no supplies. People are hunting around all of the buildings on campus for pads of paper and other basics.”
FDA employees also told the AP that they brought their own drinking water to work due to concerns about Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, which was detected at several FDA buildings last summer. FDA staff received an email last week that all water is safe to drink, but it did not detail the latest testing results or corrective actions taken.
News 4 noted that some workers were also concerned there won’t be enough parking spaces to handle approximately 10,000 employees returning to the campus. The parking lot only has about 6,000 parking spots. Staff returning to the campus were advised to carpool and use public transportation as much as possible and to be prepared for delays in clearing enhanced security. They were told to only carry essentials with them.
An FDA statement about the employees’ challenges during their first day back read: “The agency continues to provide its employees with up-to-date information regarding these activities, including workspace, security, parking accommodations, as well as public transportation and alternative commuting options.”