Mayor Cherelle L. Parker is ordering top city officials to work from their offices starting in March
The directive applies to high-ranking staff members, but Parker has said she wants all city employees to return to the office full-time.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has ordered top city officials to return to full-time in-person work beginning next month, according to a memo sent Friday to high-level members of her administration.
“I recognize that working from home offers a flexibility that may better facilitate balancing professional and personal responsibilities and commitments, however, I feel strongly that a more consistent in-office presence will result in better communication, professional boundaries and work environments where Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are truly realized,” Parker wrote in the memo, which was obtained by The Inquirer.
The policy change, which was first reported by NBC10, takes effect March 4 and applies to “All Cabinet members, direct reports to the Office of the Mayor, Commissioners, Directors and Deputy Directors,” the memo said.
» READ MORE: Mayor Parker is considering more days in-office for city workers to help Center City bounce back
Almost all of those officials, however, already work in-person, making the order less of a major shift in city operations and more of a statement: It shows that Parker plans to follow through on her goal of bringing the entire municipal workforce back full-time despite some rank-and-file city employees saying that they may look for work elsewhere if they are forced to return to the office.
Parker has said she wants to bring city workers back to the office to show that City Hall is committed to boosting the local economy at a time when the vacancy rate in the city’s office sector is about 19%, according to commercial real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle.
Hybrid work has resulted in substantially fewer office workers in Center City, especially on Mondays and Fridays, even as the downtown residential population is booming and tourism has almost recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
“Philadelphia can only truly say we are ‘open for business’ when all of our workers are back in the office Monday through Friday,” Parker said recently.
The memo, however, did not touch on the economic impact of bringing city workers back to their offices, and instead cited benefits like improved communication.
“This decision was made with several factors in mind, including sustaining a framework of collaboration and efficiency and delivering on my promise of a more visible and accessible workforce,” Parker wrote. “I appreciate and expect everyone’s cooperation and compliance with this decision and understand this transition will require some adjustment.”
Tiffany W. Thurman, Parker’s chief of staff, said the memo shows the administration will “deliver on our promise of a more visible and accessible” city government.
“We are not a virtual administration,” Thurman said. “We are a watercooler administration.”
Staff writer Jake Blumgart contributed to this article.