RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Hundreds of state employees in Virginia have resigned from their jobs.
Governor Glenn Youngkin’s new telework policy went into effect last week which is meant to bring workers back to the office by July 5.
8News learned more than 300 state employees resigned since this new telework policy was announced by Governor Youngkin in early May. Employees were given two weeks to submit their telework applications.
8News discovered that 28 out of 183 Virginia Department of Transportation workers who left their postions have cited telework options as their reason for leaving.
Since May, the Virginia Department of Health had 78 resignations and the Virginia Employment Commission had 37 resignations from May 5 to June 27.
Virginia’s Department of Housing and Community Development had seven resignations from May 5 to July 6 and Virginia’s Department of Emergency Management had six resignations from May 4 to July 7.
Some employees said they are concerned with losing the flexibility that comes with telework. Others also raised concerns about the increasing cost of travel and trouble arranging childcare.
There are more than 21,000 state employees eligible for telework and 46% of those workers chose a telework option.
Youngkin’s office told 8News in a FOIA response that as of July 7, there were at least 1,500 final applications.
It’s unclear how many state workers returned to the office when the deadline hit Tuesday.
