FEATURED COLUMNIST
Remote Work for County Employees By Zach Friend, Supervisor, Second District
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ecently, the County instituted a new county, 46% live in South County, 24% in remote work policy for employees Mid-County and 28% in North County. As one of the largest employers in the that will shift how and where many region, the County plays a contributing employees work. Many employees will no longer be role in rush hour traffic and greenhouse coming to the 701 Ocean St. location in gas emissions. The County estimates that having half downtown Santa Cruz on a daily basis but will be able to work remotely on a hybrid of full-time employees perform a remote work option 2 days a week will equate to basis. Building on lessons learned during a reduction of nearly 2,000 metric tons of carbon emissions. the pandemic, the The County has County was able to As one of the largest been committed to effectively deliver its carbon services while simulemployers in the region, the reducing footprint. From the taneously improving environmental outCounty plays a contributing installation of solar arrays throughout comes, congestion role in rush hour traffic and County facilities and and quality-of-life recent purchase of through remote work. greenhouse gas emissions. the a new South County This new policy Service Center, will preserve government services and public counter hours allowing the consolidation and expansion and is expected to result in nearly half of of services in South County and giving resCounty employees working from home idents and staff the opportunity to reduce cross-county travel, the remote work policy two days per week. As one of the largest employers in is part of a broader effort to improve the the region — 2,500 employees — the County’s carbon footprint. While remote work isn’t an option County (through remote work) can play a key role in reducing t r a ffi c, for all employees in our region, for those employers that could provide a flexible improving the quality-ofand remote work option it should be life for employees and considered. even recruiting and If multiple employers allowed a retaining top talent. hybrid remote work option there A d d i t i o n a l l y, could be notable impacts on with the County’s new traffic, quality-of-life and South County Service the environment. Even Center opening in a removing just a few year and a half or so there percentage points of will be opportunities for some traffic from the road can employees that do come into the office have a big impact (as was seen to work from a location closer to their before the pandemic when a school district home. Here is a look at the new policy and was on a holiday break, for example). Quality of Life the ways in which it can impact these elements. n a survey of County employees, 4 in 5 said that having a hybrid remote work Environmental Improvements any County employees commute option would improve a work/life balance from the south county (and even and also improve morale and productivity. During the pandemic, with many points out of the county) to work. Of employees who live within the employees working remotely, the County
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30 / August 15th 2021 / Aptos Times www.tpgonlinedaily.com
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did not experience drop-offs in productivity or increases in timelines for many services. As part of the survey, many employees noted it would be a recruitment and retention tool as well. As noted above, many County employees commute from south county or out of the county to work. With half of full-time employees working two days remotely, the County estimates that employees will drive 4.8 million less miles/year, save approximately 213,000 hours of commuting and 1,400 daily car trips. While this has a significant impact on the quality-of-life of employees, it also has a noticeable impact on other commuters that won’t have these cars on the road. Ideally, this would save time for others that still need to commute and improve environmental outcomes with fewer cars on the road. Overall, the future of work for many positions is shifting. Many local public sector positions, and many private sector positions as well, can accommodate remote or hybrid options and improve environmental and quality-of-life outcomes for their community and employees. Employers that offer these options may be more competitive than those that only offer traditional work environments. Given the high cost of living in our area, it can sometimes be difficult to recruit and retain employees. Having flexible work situations may provide incentive
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for employees to stay as it may reduce child care costs (as this option cuts down after work commute time), allows greater participation in school-day activities or after watching your kids school or league sports --things that many parents in our community struggle with due to the length of commutes due to where affordable housing can be obtained. Eliminating these commutes, even a few days each week, can improve upon a lot of outcomes. As always, I appreciate any feedback you may have on this (or any other County issue). n I’m maintaining regular updates on social media at www.facebook.com/supervisorfriend and you can always call me at 454-2200. ••• Source: Long Range Facilities Plan, prepared by Gensler before the Covd-19 shelter in place in March 2020, adopted by Board of Supervisors in November 2020.
