Remote federal employees returning to office?

[disneysteve]

Not really related, but a somewhat "funny" (?) demonstration of this dynamic ... Part of my job involves responsibility over our airfield operations, and we have an ops desk, manned 24/7, that serves as the hub for the airfield. We recently received a handful of new folks (18-19y/o, brand new Airmen, job specialty is in airfield operations), and they're in training to sit the desk solo. However .... One of them recently had a series of incidents where she wasn't willing to answer the phones that are often ringing almost constantly. Big problem for our ops desk. Apparently it got to the point that she was so upset & terrified of answering the phone that she broke down crying because the idea of having to answer the phone was so overwhelming. This is actually the second person over the last year who has had this problem. It's been a unique challenge for my team to figure out how to train this person to be more comfortable answering the phone. But it's definitely a sign of how our society has changed over time.

That surprises me not at all.

We were watching some show recently. A mom called her son and got his voice mail. The message said, “Leave a message… or text me like a normal person.”

People under 30 don’t use phones for talking. They have been raised on text-based communication. Talking on the phone is foreign to them.

[EasyMoney00]

Not really related, but a somewhat "funny" (?) demonstration of this dynamic ... Part of my job involves responsibility over our airfield operations, and we have an ops desk, manned 24/7, that serves as the hub for the airfield. We recently received a handful of new folks (18-19y/o, brand new Airmen, job specialty is in airfield operations), and they're in training to sit the desk solo. However .... One of them recently had a series of incidents where she wasn't willing to answer the phones that are often ringing almost constantly. Big problem for our ops desk. Apparently it got to the point that she was so upset & terrified of answering the phone that she broke down crying because the idea of having to answer the phone was so overwhelming. This is actually the second person over the last year who has had this problem. It's been a unique challenge for my team to figure out how to train this person to be more comfortable answering the phone. But it's definitely a sign of how our society has changed over time.

Sounds like she's due for a promotion. Especially as a female in the military. Equality at it's finest. These are the people who will be taking care of us when we get older. Can't wait.

[kork13]

That surprises me not at all.

We were watching some show recently. A mom called her son and got his voice mail. The message said, “Leave a message… or text me like a normal person.”

People under 30 don’t use phones for talking. They have been raised on text-based communication. Talking on the phone is foreign to them.

My voicemail message is actually similar ... It basically says "send me a text if you can, or leave a message & I'll get back to you." I've never liked talking on the phone, but that's largely because I'm just not a conversationalist.

Sounds like she's due for a promotion. Especially as a female in the military. Equality at it's finest. These are the people who will be taking care of us when we get older. Can't wait.

Eh, we're not too hard on her. As I said, she's the second person with this problem in the last year, and we recognize that young kids just aren't used to talking to people on the phone. The last guy got through it with time, and she will too. We call it 'exposure therapy' .... when she's on shift, nobody's allowed to answer the phone but her, and she has to figure out who/how to redirect the call to the right person. Some of us in leadership may or may not intentionally make extra calls to the ops desk merely for the sake of giving her "extra practice", at which point we just chat on the phone with whoever we happen to ask for. "A kinder/gentler military" may be accurate in many cases, but we still know how to beat the problems out of a person.

[ua_guy]

My voicemail message is actually similar ... It basically says "send me a text if you can, or leave a message & I'll get back to you." I've never liked talking on the phone, but that's largely because I'm just not a conversationalist.


Eh, we're not too hard on her. As I said, she's the second person with this problem in the last year, and we recognize that young kids just aren't used to talking to people on the phone. The last guy got through it with time, and she will too. We call it 'exposure therapy' .... when she's on shift, nobody's allowed to answer the phone but her, and she has to figure out who/how to redirect the call to the right person. Some of us in leadership may or may not intentionally make extra calls to the ops desk merely for the sake of giving her "extra practice", at which point we just chat on the phone with whoever we happen to ask for. "A kinder/gentler military" may be accurate in many cases, but we still know how to beat the problems out of a person.

I'm not a phone person either. These days, seeing an incoming call from mom/dad/family unexpectedly in the middle of the day can nearly send me into a panic. Who's in the hospital? What bad news is about to be shared? Who died? Or, it could be mom just calling to check in, in the middle of the day.

I'd imagine the military does a lot of parenting where it's been absent, with young recruits. A lot of young people join up looking to get out of small towns, bad families, or to find better opportunities than they may be able to find in their civilian life. The military provides a lot of structure and routine, and important life lessons..I still believe it does, anyway.

[disneysteve]

I'm not a phone person either. These days, seeing an incoming call from mom/dad/family unexpectedly in the middle of the day can nearly send me into a panic. Who's in the hospital? What bad news is about to be shared? Who died?

Exactly. I'm the same way. Phone calls are for IMMEDIATE URGENT news, not casual conversation.

Every time my wife or I have any sort of medical procedure, our daughter says to text her when it's over and to tell the doctors not to do anything that makes us have to call her, meaning give her bad news, because that's what she associates a phone call with.

On the rare occasion when we want to talk to someone about something not serious, we will always text first to let them know that nothing is wrong but we're going to call them.

[kork13]

I'd imagine the military does a lot of parenting where it's been absent, with young recruits. A lot of young people join up looking to get out of small towns, bad families, or to find better opportunities than they may be able to find in their civilian life. The military provides a lot of structure and routine, and important life lessons..I still believe it does, anyway.

More than I could begin to tell you. So many kids join the military just to get out of their parent's house, or out of town, or to give opportunities not otherwise available to them -- and I always say good on them, the military is great for people to do all of those things & more. Unfortunately sometimes the street comes with them, so I've dealt with alot of reeducation & discipline & breaking of old habits/mannerisms. Won't go into it & throw off the thread .... But in short ... Yes, you're very correct.

[james.hendrickson]

More than I could begin to tell you. So many kids join the military just to get out of their parent's house, or out of town, or to give opportunities not otherwise available to them -- and I always say good on them, the military is great for people to do all of those things & more. Unfortunately sometimes the street comes with them, so I've dealt with alot of reeducation & discipline & breaking of old habits/mannerisms. Won't go into it & throw off the thread .... But in short ... Yes, you're very correct.

The DoD is a pretty amazing organization - everyone more or less gets paid and fulfills their orders. Its a basically a sociological miracle.

[EasyMoney00]

Hard times make hard men
Hard men make easy times
East times make weak men
Weak men make hard times

Can't imagine what phase we're in. Receiving a phone call gives people anxiety. Smh. Wouldn't be a bad idea to force those graduating high school to serve. I know some countries do this. Not sure if those countries also have anxiety over a phone call.

My biggest regret is not serving the greatest country in the world. Maybe in the next life.

[ua_guy]

Hard times make hard men
Hard men make easy times
East times make weak men
Weak men make hard times

Can't imagine what phase we're in. Receiving a phone call gives people anxiety. Smh. Wouldn't be a bad idea to force those graduating high school to serve. I know some countries do this. Not sure if those countries also have anxiety over a phone call.

My biggest regret is not serving the greatest country in the world. Maybe in the next life.

Don’t know what to tell ya. Other than there probably isn’t a “next life”.

[EasyMoney00]

Don’t know what to tell ya. Other than there probably isn’t a “next life”.

Yeah, can't say I believe in reincarnation but that's about as likely as any other afterlife scenario.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Most Federal employees will have Jan 9 off in observance of Carter's funeral services. Lucky employees.