Thousands of workers who work for the Food and Drug Administration are headed back to in person work in Silver Spring, Maryland on Monday. One thing that workers are concerned about? Space. News4’s Joseph Olmo reports.
Thousands of Food and Drug Administration employees are expected to return to in-person work on the White Oak campus starting Monday.
About 10,000 federal workers are expected to return to the office at the federal agency's Silver Spring, Maryland, headquarters. One worker said this was her first time working in person since March 2020.
"I just wish it was more hybrid," Paula, the worker, said. "Maybe one or two days would be good.”
While she might like the idea of in-person work, Paula said she is concerned about whether the campus will have enough space for the number of people expected to return to the office.
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She said that she heard some federal workers 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.”
“I just feel bad for people who don’t have a place to work," she said. "I don’t want people sitting around a conference room with seven other people trying to work.”
Some workers are also concerned there won't be enough parking spaces to handle 10,000 employees. The parking lot only has about 6,000 parking spots.
When asked about these concerns, the FDA sent News4 a statement that said the agency is "continuing its return-to-office activities to ensure staff remain able to conduct their important public health work."
"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,” the statement said.
While there were small backups to get into the White Oak campus, traffic looked like it went relatively smoothly Monday morning.
