City of Winnipeg's work-from-home program gets high marks from staff, but council members skeptical

A chunk of the City of Winnipeg's staff working remotely say they want to continue the program, but a number of council members question whether the flexible arrangement works for citizens.

Around 15 per cent of the city's workforce — 1,550 total — have been approved to work from home under the flexible work program, according to a new report.

Of those, 275 work primarily from home full-time.

In a survey included with the report, 92 per cent of employees and 91 per cent of city leaders said staff were just as productive as at the office, and 81 per cent of leaders said it improved morale.

Significant majorities of respondents felt the program was important to attracting and retaining staff. 

"Every data point that we could point to does seem to be pretty positive, especially in terms of employee satisfaction with the availability of flexible work and how employees viewed it from a recruitment and retention perspective," chief administrative officer Michael Jack told reporters on Friday.

City workers began working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The flexible work program officially launched in June 2022. 

The departments with the most people working from home are water and waste (252), property and development (233), and community services (141).

The city has seen direct cost savings as a result of the program, including $119,000 in reduced paper and printing costs, as well as reduced travel time for employees to attend meetings.

The report will be discussed next week by Mayor Scott Gillingham's inner circle on executive policy committee.

Gillingham says he's not convinced by the report and wants more details on how the city measured productivity.

"I prefer people are working from the office," he said in an interview.

"What are the measurements they have used? What have they been tracking … to back up their statement that there has been an increase in productivity, or that productivity hasn't diminished?"

Motion calls for end of remote work

On the same agenda as the report on the flexible work program, the executive policy committee will also debate a motion from Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt calling for the city to end all work-from-home arrangements.

Despite the city survey results, Wyatt's motion claims studies have shown it reduces productivity.

He also raises concern about empty office space, although the city report says office tenancy has not changed significantly.

Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood Coun. Evan Duncan, who serves as chair of community services, seconded Wyatt's motion.

"I think that when you have a report that's being written by people who most likely are working from home and getting information from people who are working from home, I don't know why you would say that you have any urgency in returning to the workplace," Duncan said in an interview.

The survey did not address how working from home affected collaboration between employees, Duncan said. He also questioned whether ending flexible work would hurt the city's ability to attract and keep staff.

"Last time I checked, working for the government, with a pension, benefits and security is a big decision on why people come to work for the public."

Gillingham said his main concern is how well city staff serve the public.

"Some of the departments … we see a high number of positions participating in either part-time or full-time work-from-home programs. We need to know as a council what those positions are and how that may be impacting service delivery to the residents."