Michael Bloomberg, in a Washington Post op-ed, is calling on President Biden to unequivocally require federal workers to return to the office, for the sake of taxpayers.

Sixteen months ago, in his March 2022 State of the Union address, Biden promised that “the vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person.”

However, a Government Accountability Office review of 24 federal agencies as recently as March finds just over 20% of federal workers have returned to office headquarters, Bloomberg notes.

Just walking around downtown D.C., a casual visitor will see that it “remains largely empty,” Bloomberg says.

Undoubtedly, says the founder of Bloomberg and former mayor of New York, the lack of in-person supervision is taking a toll on services provided by vital federal agencies, like the Social Security Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Explain this failure of leadership and decline in services “to the small businesses, whose tax payments fund city services,” Bloomberg writes. “Tell it to the many residents who rely on those services, especially poor people and elderly people.”

This past January, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser urged “decisive action by the White House” to remedy the absence of Washington, D.C., federal workers.

In April, the Biden administration offered guidance to encourage federal workers to return to the office—but “no firm targets or timelines.”

The following month, Biden declared the coronavirus national emergency was over, but said nothing about the absence of federal workers in offices.

“This has gone of too long,” Bloomberg says. “The pandemic is over. Excuses for allowing offices to sit empty should end, too.”

Pointing to policies at his own company and other American businesses, Bloomberg says the pandemic taught management about the benefits of being flexible about hybrid work—but underscores the vital importance of face-to-face supervision and mentoring.

“Though some early research found that remote employees were more productive than those in the office, newer studies are finding the opposite,” Bloomberg says, pointing out the importance of relationship dynamics in business and noting that they can break down in just a few months of working remotely.

Today, more than 80% of Bloomberg workers have returned to their offices at least three days a week, and this fall, Bloomberg will require its workers to be in the office four days of the week.

In sum, Bloomberg urges, “The federal government should lead by example, and the president should keep his promise.”