{"id":124199,"date":"2026-06-22T07:23:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T07:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/124199\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T07:23:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T07:23:16","slug":"gavin-newsom-warned-of-mass-exodus-from-california-as-new-policy-sparks-fury-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/124199\/","title":{"rendered":"Gavin Newsom warned of mass exodus from California as new policy sparks fury"},"content":{"rendered":"

California state workers are warning Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a> could face a \u201cmass exodus\u201d after ordering employees back to the office four days a week beginning July 1.<\/p>\n

The looming mandate has sparked backlash from workers who say they have successfully kept the Golden State running under hybrid schedules since the COVID-19 pandemic, KCRA3<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The fight over Newsom\u2019s order has grown so heated that a billboard along a Sacramento-area highway is warning motorists of future traffic jams tied to the policy. ABC 1O<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like there will be a mass exodus. I feel like the state needs to be ready for a mass exodus,\u201d Anica Walls, president of SEIU Local 1000 \u2014 which represents state workers in Sacramento \u2014 told the outlet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have individuals who have been teetering retirement, who look at this 4-days a week when they have been doing their job efficiently in a hybrid schedule will probably send them into a retirement,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The fight over Newsom\u2019s order has grown so heated<\/a> that a billboard along a Sacramento-area highway is warning motorists of future traffic jams tied to the policy.<\/p>\n

State workers argue the governor\u2019s sweeping mandate ignores years of successful remote and hybrid work arrangements.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince COVID, we have been working and doing the jobs and being efficient and doing the jobs to keep California running,\u201d Walls said.<\/p>\n

\"At<\/p>\n

At a May budget presentation, Newsom acknowledged concerns surrounding the return-to-office order but defended the benefits of bringing employees back together in person. AP Photo\/Jon Cherry<\/p>\n

\u201cThis mandate, as overarching as it is, does not give departments the space to bring back our workers as needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exactly which departments are struggling with office space \u2014 and how the Newsom administration plans to address those issues \u2014 remains unclear.<\/p>\n

At a May budget presentation, Newsom acknowledged concerns surrounding the return-to-office order but defended the benefits of bringing employees back together in person.<\/p>\n

\u201cChange is hard. I\u2019m empathetic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has unique criteria, circumstance. We try to accommodate for that. I mean, four days a week, nice to see you again. I mean, would be nice to see you again, nice to see you again, nice to run into you in the hall, nice to develop a relationship, nice not feel so alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters of the mandate argue it will benefit both workplace culture and local businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a lot of value in bringing people back to the office. The ebb and flow. The next generation of workforce. There is a value in experiencing by observation. Even me as the CEO, if I wasn\u2019t here every day, there are things I wouldn\u2019t notice or pick up or see in the office,\u201d Robert Heidt, president of the Sacramento Metro Chamber, told the outlet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t imagine that we can sustain an acceptable level of business and commerce with everyone remote. It just doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"Exactly<\/p>\n

Exactly which departments are struggling with office space \u2014 and how the Newsom administration plans to address those issues \u2014 remains unclear. ABC 1O<\/p>\n

State workers flooded committee hearings at the Capitol this week, advocating for AB 1729 \u2014 a bill that would require state agencies to provide telework options or justify why specific positions must be performed in person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have heard from so many state workers from even the Bay Area all up and down the state who said this is the thing that matters the most to them,\u201d said Democratic Assemblyman Alex Lee \u2014 who authored the measure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t want to move. They love their job, but they don\u2019t, they aren\u2019t willing to move after working 4-5 years in state service.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposal would also require the state to create an online dashboard showing how much taxpayer money is being saved through telework.<\/p>\n

Lee and SEIU have estimated remote work saves California up to $225 million annually.<\/p>\n

When asked about concerns that state employees could misuse telework arrangements, Walls defended union members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no doubt that our members are in the spaces they need to be and to successfully produce and do the job that they are assigned to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California state workers are warning Gov. Gavin Newsom could face a \u201cmass exodus\u201d after ordering employees back to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[147],"tags":[61910,61909,542,61908,45194,12424,42900],"class_list":["post-124199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gavin-newsom","tag-anica-walls","tag-california-state","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-mass-exodus","tag-office-space","tag-sacramento","tag-state-workers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116792564352595168","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}