Quick Take
In an era when Santa Cruz County’s own civil grand jury has labeled local mental health services “underfunded, understaffed and overworked,” county leaders are now pushing a policy that would make conditions even worse: scaling back hybrid work and forcing health care staff into the office more often. Social worker and SEIU Local 521 president Max Olkowski-Laetz writes that the change will exacerbate burnout, drive resignations and undermine services residents rely on — especially as an aging population increases demand. Hybrid work saves employees time and money, improves mental and physical health and significantly reduces turnover, with no added cost to the county, he writes. Reversing these policies would put thousands more cars on Highway 1 and contradict the county’s own climate and equity goals. Health care workers will appear before the board of supervisors Tuesday.
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It’s been a brutal five years for the health care workers working on the front lines to keep the residents of Santa Cruz County healthy and safe. I am a licensed clinical social worker who has served the County of Santa Cruz for close to 10 years, as well as the chapter president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 521. On Tuesday, I, along with SEIU Local 521 union members representing 2,500 county health care workers and staff, will appear before the county board of supervisors and fight for our mental and physical health.
We will explain why recent changes to work policy are unacceptable and dangerous for us and the community. The changes ask us to reduce our current hybrid work model.
This is a useless policy that will cause already underpaid staff to spend more time commuting and less time with their families. It’s not a win for anyone.
A June 2023 civil grand jury report conducted by Santa Cruz County found that county mental health services in Santa Cruz County were “underfunded,” “understaffed” and “overworked.”
Things have only gotten worse since then, not better.
Santa Cruz is not alone in this struggle. Between constant cuts from the Trump administration on government employees and public health, to local budget cuts resulting in closing vital public services and labs, public health care workers are under attack. It’s not a surprise that over half of the U.S. health care workforce is burning out and looking to quit.
This policy will only add to the problem; we need to do better in Santa Cruz County.
We should be supporting our workers and increasing staffing to meet our community’s growing health care needs, particularly since we have such a large and growing population of seniors. Instead, administrators in the county Health Services Agency seem intent on reducing our workforce further.
The most recent tactic, initiated in October, calls for workers to work three days a week in the office rather than two. It is a small, but significant, change for some – especially since so many workers are priced out of the Santa Cruz housing market and have long commutes. For the community, it will immediately result in thousands of cars being placed back on our already overburdened highway. This strategy is remarkably similar to the one implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk, when Donald Trump swept into power. DOGE also eliminated the hybrid work-from-home policies that were implemented at the start of the pandemic.
Data shows that management is wrong, just as Elon Musk was.
It’s not hard to see why. Hybrid remote work saves time; nationally, about 70 minutes a day gets saved by remote work. It saves money; the average savings on gas, food and increased child care is roughly $6,000 a year.
It improves health and well-being. Studies show that 93% of professionals report that remote work improves mental health, and 90% report better physical health. Hybrid work also translates to “improved job satisfaction and reduced quit rates by one-third” for its workers, as workers are happier and less stressed. Reduced turnover means fewer disruptions in essential social services, libraries and environmental programs.
Rescinding these policies will put thousands of cars back on overburdened roads, like Highway 1, decreasing quality of life for all residents and working against the county climate and transit goals.
Finally, hybrid work supports caregivers, low-income employees and people with disabilities, reflecting county values of fairness and accessibility.
Real-world data shows remote work keeps public workers healthier, more productive and less likely to quit, leading to better services for residents.
This is a clear win-win-win for the county, residents and workers. The best part is that all of this comes at no cost to the county.
Yet Santa Cruz County’s Health Services Agency is moving backward in a vacuum, opting for control and an outdated management culture over real-world evidence.
Why is the HSA trying to burn out its workforce?
While the research shows that remote work is almost universally beloved by employees, two types of employees tend to ignore the data and irrationally oppose it.
Santa Cruz County should be codifying hybrid policies, not joining corporate CEOs in rolling them back. Rescinding remote work would harm employees, undermine service delivery and erode quality of life in the community and our work product.
Max Olkowski-Laetz is a licensed clinical social worker working for the Santa Cruz County Health Agency, as well as SEIU Local 521 chapter president.