In Some Tennessee State Agencies, Most Employees Now Work Remotely

In at least one part of Tennessee’s government, a majority of employees now work remotely full-time. The space-saving effort is part of a statewide push to reduce spending on rent.

Tennessee has dozens of bank examiners. And until recently, they had offices they rarely visited.

“They spend most of their time on the road, working remotely,” says Greg Gonzales, commissioner of the Department of Financial Insitutions. “So it made a lot of sense for us to reduce — or eliminate really — our field staff office space because they just don’t use it enough.”

The department had to invest in laptops and secure communication links, but Gonzales says having most employees work from home and on the road will save nearly $500,000 per year.

The Department of Children’s Services also has gotten rid of office space for many traveling caseworkers, according to the governor’s office.

The Department of Economic and Community Development has stopped renting satellite offices and asked employees to just set up in the businesses they’re working with. Like most state agencies, ECD is also reducing its footprint in downtown Nashville by more than 50 percent. Even commissioner Randy Boyd says he has turned his corner office into a conference room and put himself in a cubicle with everyone else.

“It will hopefully create a more collaborative, transparent environment,” Boyd said during budget hearings with Governor Bill Haslam, who responded with a joke.

“How do your co-workers feel about that?”