The Pentagon's Remote Work Mystery: Why the DoD Can't Track Its Teleworking Employees

The Pentagon's Remote Work Data Gap

The Department of Defense (DoD) lacks reliable data on how many civilian employees actually telework or work remotely, according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. While the DoD has detailed information about which positions are eligible for remote work, it fails to consistently track whether employees are actually using these programs.

Inconsistent Reporting and Overstated Numbers

Official figures have sometimes overstated remote work usage by counting eligible positions instead of actual participants. For example, in May 2024, the Pentagon reported having 61,549 remote employees, but just one month later, the Defense Department told GAO it had only 35,558 remote workers.

"The reason that happened is because they were reporting position eligibility. They were not reporting the individual employees," explained Alissa Czyz, director of defense capabilities and management at GAO. "We found that two-thirds of the positions in 2024 were eligible for telework, but the data were not very good when you got to the individual employee level."

The Reality of Remote Work at DoD

Contrary to popular perception, most DoD civilians were already working in person even before recent return-to-office policies. According to GAO's analysis:

• About 81% of civilians were working in person
• Only about 1% were doing fully remote work
• Approximately 8% of the DoD civilian workforce (roughly 62,000 employees) had not returned to in-person work following policy changes

Lack of Formal Program Evaluation

Despite Office of Personnel Management guidance requiring agencies to evaluate how telework and remote-work programs affect their mission, recruitment, retention, and costs, the Defense Department has not conducted formal evaluations of these programs' impact on broader departmental goals.

While there were scattered efforts to assess some aspects of telework and remote work, there was no comprehensive, departmentwide evaluation of both benefits and drawbacks. Officials cited anecdotal benefits such as improved communication, recruitment advantages for hard-to-fill positions, and potential cost reductions, but could not provide concrete data demonstrating actual outcomes.

"The bottom line was they were not conducting formal evaluations of telework or remote work," Czyz said. "There was maybe some anecdotal cost savings with reduction in office space and that sort of thing, but there had been no formal evaluation of cost savings in the department."

Policy Changes and Future Implications

The Pentagon updated its telework policy in 2024 for the first time since 2012, instructing DoD components to "actively promote" telework and remote work and eliminate barriers through education and training. However, the department has since rolled back this policy.

GAO is currently examining potential cost increases related to increased in-person requirements as part of a separate review of the department's use of office space, with a report expected in early spring.