Governor takes cell phones away from employees

California Gov. Jerry Brown wants to take back 48,000 mobile phones from state employees, part of  an effort to cut spending. Brown has issued an order demanding return of the phones by June 1. He said the state would save at least $20 million from the effort. The 48,000 phones is about half the total number that the state provides for employees.

About 40 percent of the state's workforce carries state-issued phones, something Brown finds unacceptable.

“It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all state employees must be equipped with taxpayer-funded cell phones,” Brown said in a statement. “Some state employees, including department and agency executives who are required to be in touch 24 hours a day and seven days a week, may need cell phones, but the current number of phones out there is astounding.”

For that matter, he said the planned reduction might not be enough.

“Even with a 50 percent reduction, one-fifth of all state employees will still have cell phones,” Brown said. “That still seems like too much and I want every department and agency to examine and justify all cell phone usage.”

He acknowledged that some phones could be under contracts that would prevent them from being decommissioned, which could prevent all 48,000 from being collected by June 1, but that “it is also conceivable that we can do it earlier.”

“In the face of a multibillion-dollar budget deficit, a cell phone may not seem like a big expense,” Brown said in his statement. “But spending $20 million, and perhaps far more than that, on cell phones can’t be justified. We’re facing a budget crisis in California and I want to achieve all possible, reasonable savings. We have one of the best state workforces in America, and I am confident that all state employees will understand the need for this move and will cooperate.”

Mobile devices, particularly smart phones, are increasing being used on the job by employees in the public and private sectors. But cash-strapped states and municipalities are looking to cut costs where they can. Corpus Christi, Texas, also recently cut down on cell phone use by employees.

While cutting back on state-issued cell phones, California is allowing the use of personal smart phones for telework, as long as they meet the state’s security requirements, Lauren Katims writes in Government Technology. 

The state’s new telework policy was updated Jan. 1 to include smart phones among on-the-job devices, subjecting them to the same requirements as desktop or laptop PCs.