WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — With federal workers slated to return to office in the coming weeks, businesses in D.C.’s downtown area are hopeful for a spike in customers.

“I think that it’ll be a great thing to keep money circulating around the area, around the city, bringing warm energy back to the city,” said Dale Simmons, owner of Wall’s Barber Shop.

His shop is located on L Street in the Golden Triangle area.

Simmons said there’s been a noticeable decrease in foot traffic since the pandemic and a shift to remote work.

“Since the pandemic, it’s been really dead down here. Money hasn’t been flowing around, and people haven’t been downtown working in the commercial buildings. It has definitely been empty,” he explained.

As promised, President Donald Trump signed an executive order issuing a return-to-office policy for federal workers.

On Wednesday, agency heads received a memo from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, issuing guidance on how to begin the implementation.

Per the memo:

The President’s PM directs agency heads to “take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis” “as soon as practicable.” It allows agency heads to “make exemptions they deem necessary” and directs that the directive “be implemented consistent with applicable law.

The memo also said the federal office buildings sitting mostly empty in D.C. are “devastating the local economy and serving as a national embarrassment.”

Agency heads have until 5 p.m. on Friday to revise their telework policies and notify staff. Implementation should begin in roughly 30 days.

The change in policy has received pushback from some federal workers and their unions, who worry about a mass exodus of workers and a negative impact on quality of life.

“It’s those family-friendly type policies, like a decent telework program that keeps people around,” said Randy Erwin, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees. “If they do away with those … you’re certainly not going to be able to recruit and retain the best and brightest.”

Still, business districts in the area are applauding the change.

“This is something we’ve been waiting for, so we’re excited,” said Leona Agouridis, CEO of the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District.

According to Agouridis, the occupancy rate downtown dropped drastically during the pandemic to just 10%. That number has now risen to about 67%, but she said the impacts of remote work are still being felt.

“The downtown’s economy really depends on having a lot of people here and the vitality and it really is an ecosystem,” she said. “It’s not just people in an office building. It’s people who come to the office, they go to lunch at a local business, they pick up their drying cleaning or they go to happy hours after work.”