GSA says: Ties are mandatory, even in the Texas heat
GSA officials want their largest annual conference to be presentable and respectable.
General Services Administration officials have told their employees that this year’s GSA Expo in San Antonio will not be a causal event.
They want their employees wearing “business professional attire” to the conference. In other words, don’t forget your work clothes.
“People don’t like to hear that,” said one GSA employee who will attend the annual conference.
In the past, this conference has been a time when people shed their usual workday outfits. Men can wear shirts without ties and women can leave their pantsuits behind.
However, a disaster in April may have landed GSA employees back in their suits.
GSA found itself in the center of controversy last month. The agency’s inspector general issued a report that said GSA employees had spent $822,000 on a swanky stay in a luxury hotel. Since then, GSA officials have put the lockdown on what they consider wasteful conferences and have changed policies on what they think should happen at a conference.
In all, “times are changing,” the employee said, with a ticket booked for Texas. The conference takes place in May, when the average high temperature in San Antonio is 85 degrees Farenheit.