Teleworking Testimony Reveals Real Property Benefits

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) draws a direct connection between teleworking and better management of real property costs. In recent testimony before Congress, USPTO Director Jon Dudas noted that his organization saved $1.5 million in rent per year in one facility alone by introducing a work-at-home program.

Dudas’ remarks were presented on June 12 before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia.

The hearing was called by Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) to address teleworking for Federal employees and to review the Telework Enhancement Act of 2007 – legislation proposed by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK).

According to Akaka, “fifty percent of the workforce is eligible for retirement in the next five years.” Teleworking would provide a new incentive for keeping and retaining younger employees, as well as reducing congestion on the roads, decreasing vehicle emissions, and ensuring better continuity of operations planning (COOP), he noted.

It was USPTO’s Dudas, however, who underscored the value of teleworking on real property asset management. Dudas, who is also Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, noted, “ten years ago there was no teleworking in the USPTO.” Today there are 3,414 USPTO teleworkers in a dozen different programs in 14 states and the District of Columbia.

With 1,200 new patent examiners hired each year, the USPTO staff would not be able to fit in available space, Dudas said. Teleworking is a way to manage real estate costs – in addition to the other benefits for current and prospective employees.

For Dudas, the real property benefits of teleworking are tangible. Through teleworking, he said, the USPTO was able to shed itself of three full floors of office space in Crystal City, VA – a cost savings of $1.5 million in rent per year, which was then rolled into the organization’s operating budget moving forward.

The USPTO is looking into creating a nationwide workplace, where an examiner can work anywhere in the country, Dudas said. Potential benefits of this approach to alternative workplaces would include meeting “current and future workforce requirements while minimizing costs of expansion” being able to better “manage real estate costs associated with workforce expansion,” he noted.

“A successful telework program can result in greater employee productivity, higher levels of sustained performance, reduced traffic congestion and air pollution, and reduced real estate costs,” Dudas added.

Also providing testimony at the hearing was Stanley Kaczmarczyk, Deputy Associate Administrator in the GSA’s Office of Governmentwide Policy. Kaczmarczyk also noted a connection between telework and real property. “Telework combined with alternative officing can enable agencies to reduce cost and improve the utilization of existing facilities,” he said. Additionally, Kaczmarczyk commented, remote alternative worksites can “reduce the adverse effects on employees impacted by Base Relocation programs.”

For complete statements from the hearing, click here.