Understanding public servants’ perspectives on return to office and digital government: lessons learned from Canada

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore public servants’ perspectives on return to office, hybrid work model and digital government. This is done by answering two research questions: what benefits and challenges public servants foresee with return to office and whether hybrid work enables or impedes digital government initiatives. Design/methodology/approach This research is designed as a mixed methods study of federal and provincial governments in Canada based on the analysis of Reddit data. Research methods include machine-assisted toxicity and sentiment analysis and manual content analysis to identify emerging themes. Findings The findings highlight public servants’ mostly discussed concerns with return to office. Other notable discussion topics include resistance to the hybrid work model and identifying the ways how it would be operationalized. Some supported return to office. Research limitations/implications This study’s limitations are related to using Reddit as the data source and user representation on Reddit. The main implications are its contribution to emerging literature on the future of work and digital government. Practical implications This study highlights that perspectives of public servants are paramount for development and implementation of transformational initiatives and offers insights for public sector managers on how to incorporate these into practice while improving the efficiency of digital government initiatives and the system. Originality/value This study addresses the gap in literature by seeking to understand the perspectives of public servants in a variety of roles as well as implications of transition to hybrid work on digital government and future of work initiatives.