According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s 2019-2020 Telework Annual Report, “[i]n 2019, more than 11,000 employees agency-wide are teleworking between one and five days per week. Of these, more than 7,000 employees work from home four to five days per week and have completely relinquished an assigned workspace at the USPTO facility.”[1] Now, in 2021, the USPTO operates with nearly all of its employees teleworking. “Today, in response to the pandemic, virtually all of our employees telework full time, and USPTO operations have been able to continue without interruption.”[2]
In light of the new telework regime, the USPTO is considering reducing the amount of its available office space.[3]
1] See 2019-2020 Telework Annual Report at 3 ( https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Telework_Annual_Report_2019-2020.pdf).
[2] See 2019-2020 Telework Annual Report at 3.
[3] See https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2021/03/08/pto-weighing-plans-to-shed-excess-space.html.