GSA introduces Space Match to help employees find agency workspace
The General Services Administration is offering to help federal agencies find office space for their staffers by connecting employees in need of a workspace with departments that have extra room available.
GSA said in a press release Monday that Space Match, an online form, is designed to help agencies fill underutilized office space with federal employees and place staffers returning to in-person work.
Through the service, federal agencies will able to provide space for employees returning to the office who don’t have an assigned agency space near their home, part of an overarching Office of Management and Budget goal to reduce rent costs and get to 60% office utilization.
“Space Match is a game-changer for federal agencies navigating the evolving office landscape,” Public Buildings Service Commissioner Michael Peters said in the release. “By leveraging shared office space, we are optimizing real estate usage, reducing overhead costs and providing employees with more flexible work arrangements.”
This move complies with a Biden administration memorandum — and the Federal Property Management Reform Act of 2016 — that provides agencies with requirements for design standards as well as measuring and reporting occupancy for both owned and leased office space, according to the release.
GSA has previously voiced plans to help “right-size” and modernize federal real estate, revealing plans in a December press release to achieve a potential reduction of 1.5 million square feet and more than $475 million in estimated cost avoidance over 10 years.
Last week, Peters called for a 50% reduction of federal building space that is both owned and leased, according to the Federal News Network, with reports that the GSA has prepared to terminate approximately 1,000 leases.
Additionally, the Trump administration announced that it is giving agencies until April 14 to suggest the relocation of office spaces outside of the D.C. region, according to The Washington Post.
