Trump’s workforce crackdown could encourage private-sector employers

More companies are expected to join the movement this year as they raise performance expectations and mandate workers return to the office full time, work experts say.

The shift in work culture threatens to upend more recent models of work that favored employee perks and flexibility on work location. Some companies that have already reversed their remote and hybrid work stances say the new policies will increase efficiency and productivity. But many workers argue that the reversals are more about employers wanting more control.

“All companies I talk to are really focused on driving productivity [and] lowering cost,” said Bradford Bell, a professor at Cornell University’s school of industrial and labor relations. “It pushes things in favor of employers.”

The harder stance started in corporate America before Trump’s executive order, but the trend is expected to accelerate. Goldman Sachs, Amazon, AT&T and JPMorgan have implemented strict five-day in-office mandates, noting that being in the office will help with collaboration and innovation.

In January, AT&T employees returned to the office full time to find a shortage of desks and parking spaces – a problem the company said it’s working to address.

Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, is “raising the bar” on performance and cutting 5 percent of its workforce as it gears up for an “intense year,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a recent company memo. Last month, Microsoft said it will cut staff based on job performance, even as it vowed to pour more money into artificial intelligence. Dell is mandating workers who live within an hour of the office come back full time beginning March 3. And remote employees won’t be eligible for promotions.

Google Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi said during an October earnings call that her priority was “driving further efficiencies” and aiming to “push a little further” to cut costs despite rising profits, spurring concern among workers.

Despite big cuts in 2023, the company continues to cut people in smaller groups regularly, said one Google worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. Google said the changes aim to make teams “more efficient” and “remove layers” so they can work on the company’s biggest priorities. Google also offered the U.S. platforms and devices team a “voluntary exit program,” allowing them to quit with severance after the company merged two organizations last year.

“The tech industry’s snap back against work life balance is wild. [I’ve] been on calls where people said they want to work till midnight or 6 days in the office” to land jobs, Evan Palmer, a tech recruiter, said on X.

Some employers say the return to top-down management style will produce better results. Elon Musk, who is now the head of the “Department of Government Efficiency” for the White House and pushing for a smaller workforce, has publicly said that the new federal policy will probably cause people to quit.

As a business executive himself, Musk is known for pushing a “hardcore” work culture that has led to long, grueling hours for employees and big staff cuts at his companies, including X, SpaceX and Tesla. Workers at his factories have complained about working conditions, and alleged harassment and racism. He also fired some Tesla factory workers who took unpaid leave because of safety concerns at Tesla during the pandemic. He previously told X employees to commit to “long hours” at a “high intensity” and be “extremely hardcore” or leave.

“Pretending to work while taking money from taxpayers is no longer acceptable,” Musk posted on X after the federal office mandate was announced.

While that return to old-school management might not be popular with younger workers or those used to nontraditional ways of working, the success of these methods will depend on the effects on companies’ bottom lines and their ability to attract and retain workers, said Nikki Innocent, a leadership strategist for Fortune 500 companies.

“It’d be silly [for people] to say there’s no influence,” from Trump’s moves, she said.

The Trump administration froze all federal job openings, minus those related to the military or national security, ordered employees tied to federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs to be placed on leave, and removed protections that prevented workers from being fired at will. It says these changes are necessary to improve efficiency. Unionized federal workers have already begun mobilizing around the issues.

Work “culture is probably going to shift a little bit toward the harder end” for employees, predicts Lori Yue, associate professor of business at Columbia Business School.

Some companies may see the government’s actions as an opportunity to make drastic changes, work experts say.

“For companies that have been wanting to return to the office and push that agenda, this could be another piece of ammunition,” Bell said.

Tech start-ups, known traditionally to be more flexible than large corporations in their work policies, are also pushing more in-person work and longer hours, some within the community said. For founders, the new culture is something they think will give them a competitive edge.

“I believe building our company in the office 5+ days a week in San Francisco gives us the highest probability of building a generational tech company,” Sam Blond, a former Founders Fund partner who is CEO of a stealth start-up in San Francisco, said on X.

Some venture capitalists said they’re also seeing companies within their portfolios push for in-office work and higher productivity.

“I do think during economic corrections, a lot of CEOs reset culture and norms,” said Aileen Lee, founder of Cowboy Ventures. “Many companies have to do more with less.”

Amy Yin, venture partner at Defy, said companies’ increasing demands on workers helps tech companies move faster, even if it comes at the expense of some work-life balance.

“It pushes a culture of performance,” she said.

Research from the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh suggests that office mandates don’t help boost companies’ bottom lines.

Facing strict corporate office mandates, some workers fall in line while others have protested with petitions and letters to leaders, taken legal action or even quit. Some worry about micromanagement and the implications the top-down approach.

While unions continue to fight for worker rights, union participation hit a new low at about 10 percent of U.S. workers in 2024, down from 20 percent in 1983. Trump also fired leaders of the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, both federal agencies that help protect workers.

Though some people laud Trump’s efforts to get workers back to offices, three federal workers, who spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, gave some insight to the strict new culture spreading across the nation. The office mandate would make hiring and retaining more difficult and take time away from their families, they said. A couple of them also said their offices aren’t big enough to accommodate all workers full time.

One employee, who works for the Defense Finance Accounting Service, said he fears losing his job and has been struggling with depression and poor sleep because of the onslaught of changes. He said he joined the government partially for job stability and to do civic service, but the changes have been crushing morale.

“It feels like we’re the enemy,” he said, adding that he was internally warned about saying anything against the administration that could be tracked. “I feel like a lot of this is on purpose to confuse and divide people, and I’m just a little pawn in some billionaire’s game.”

A manager with the Federal Aviation Administration worries about hiring without the benefits of telework. He’s also unsure whether he’ll be able to protect the civil rights of some workers, like transgender people, or if that would be considered a fireable offense. A cutthroat approach to business could have negative outcomes, he said.

“Elon Musk and Donald Trump are laser focused on dollars, and it’s an entirely different mindset,” he said. “If you focus on dollars, you compromise safety, quality and efficiency.”

A worker within the Department Health and Human Services said she moved during the pandemic, bought a house and is caring for her elderly mother. She’d have to commute two hours to go to the office every day, and wouldn’t be able to provide the same care. She hopes she’ll be considered an exception to the office mandate.

“There’s just a background of anxiety. I’m waking up in the middle of the night and trying to figure these things out,” she said.