Republican lawmakers on Friday called for layoffs at Wisconsin agencies and criticized remote work policies after an audit revealed that state employees were spending substantially more time working from home than in their offices.
Most state agencies allow employees to work remotely up to five days a week, and employees at several agency headquarters seldom used their ID cards to access the buildings, according to the audit published Friday by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau.
“The audit shows massive waste on expensive unnecessary physical structures,” Republican Sen. Eric Wimberger, who co-chairs the Legislature’s audit committee, said in a statement.
Key card data reviewed by auditors also suggested that some state employees may be working in person less often than stipulated by their remote work agreements.
Wimberger said that since agencies say remote work makes them more efficient, he believes staff cuts are in order. Auditors proposed renting fewer state office spaces if officials don’t require employees to return to in-person work.
Of the 39 agencies in Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ administration that auditors reviewed, 26 allowed employees to work from home up to five days a week. The same held true for most University of Wisconsin institutions.
In the first six months of 2023, more than 3,000 state employees at four major headquarters buildings in Madison used their key cards to access the buildings an average of 1.3 times a week.
Auditors reported that on average less than a third of work stations were in use at the University of Wisconsin System and the offices of 15 state agencies that they visited repeatedly in July and August.