Long traffic backups and packed parking lots have become the norm for UF employees after the university’s full return-to-work mandate took effect in August.
UF revoked most hybrid and remote work agreements in a July 24 memo, some of which the university put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic. The announcement gave employees 30 days to return to work in person and said the decision “aligns with national trends across business, education and government sectors.”
For 10 faculty and staff members who spoke to The Alligator, the order means waking up earlier in the morning, expecting hours of traffic each day and circling parking lots to secure rare spots.
UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldán said the university reserves 15,005 on-campus parking spaces for faculty and staff whose arrival times are typically staggered.
“Still, the beginning of a semester usually brings heavy traffic and high demand for parking,” she wrote in an email. “That demand usually tapers off slightly after the first couple of weeks as some employees find other forms of transportation.”
The university employs about 32,000 people, according to its website. It’s unclear how many worked on a hybrid or remote basis — but Quinnton Cooper, a member of the unofficial UF staff union United Campus Workers, estimated it’s a “big chunk of them.”
For them, this policy makes their jobs impossible, he said.
Cooper drives about 45 minutes from Ocala to Gainesville every weekday. He said campus traffic has already worsened as employees face longer daily commutes and finite parking options.
Recent cuts to RTS bus routes have strained Gainesville’s transit system, Cooper added, which makes it hard for staff to rely on public transportation as a timely commuting option. He said the rigid, often 8 a.m., work start times compound stress for workers with school-age children.
“This is a wholly unnecessary move … that makes everything less efficient,” Cooper said. “It’s bad for everybody.”
It costs more money, it puts more strain on people and requires buildings to use more electricity and space, he said.
Kallen Shaw, a UF postdoctoral researcher in early childhood studies, said she’s struggled to find parking since early August.
Shaw said she usually parks in the Norman parking garage or a nearby lot, but the garage has been full lately.
She said she has been getting up 45 minutes earlier than she usually does just to find a parking space close to work. When she can’t, she’s forced to move to the commuter parking garage, which is an additional 21-minute walk away.
Shaw said the stress of commuting weighs on her mornings.
“I already get up early because I do a lot in the morning before I get to work,” she said. “That’s not cool.”
She said UF should build another parking garage rather than place the burden on students, postdocs and employees, especially considering the amount of people sharing the campus.
A standard annual parking pass costs about $420 for faculty and other non-student employees.
UF Transportation and Parking Services, or TAPS, now offers a park-and-shuttle service for faculty and staff during the first couple weeks of the semester to ease congestion. TAPS created the service for traffic spillover. It runs during the first three weeks of the semester between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., generally arriving every eight to 15 minutes depending on the time of day.
UF law professor Rachel Arnow-Richman, a job-mobility expert, wrote in an email Florida employers have no legal obligation to provide or maintain remote or hybrid work options, except in some disability situations.
But for many, the issue is less about legal obligations than about the daily grind.
“It’s illogical,” according to Emily Hickey, a UF alumna who worked in neurology and later as a pediatric research coordinator. “It’s a very bad business move … they’re already desperate for employees, and turnover is high.”
UF Provost Joe Glover said he hasn’t seen faculty and staff retention problems since the return’s implementation.
“The traffic … I agree it’s not always pleasant,” Glover said. “But the traffic in Gainesville is not as bad as other cities. The university perceives there is a value to having people on campus so they can interact, serve students and get their work done most efficiently.”
While the mandate affects both faculty and staff at UF, he said, faculty may have more flexibility than other employees, especially when doing off-campus research.
One UF Information Technology employee, who has worked at the university for two years, said he swapped career paths to pursue his current job at the university. He said he preferred to remain anonymous due to concerns about his job security.
“This last almost two years has been healing for me,” the employee said. “Now to lose this hybrid work agreement, I already feel really disillusioned about it.”
He said his commute has grown by almost 100 miles a week. On top of that, he said, he and his colleagues need to spend extra time searching for parking.
He’s not currently job-hunting, but he said he sees himself doing so within the year. Other full time, in-person jobs pay more than the university, he said — and he knows other UF employees who are also looking to move.
Alligator staff reporter Logan McBride contributed to this report.
Contact Swasthi Maharaj at smaharaj@thealligator.org. Follow her on X @s_maharaj1611.
Swasthi is the Fall 2025 university administration reporter. She's previously worked as general assignment reporter with The Alligator, and you can also find her work in Rowdy Magazine or The Florida Finibus. When she's not staring at her laptop screen or a textbook, she's probably taking a long walk or at a yoga class.
