Publishers will start bringing people back to the office after Fourth of July holiday weekend

By Sara Guaglione

The July 4 holiday weekend will mark the end of working from home for some media employees — though many of their employers are expecting them to officially settle back into an in-person office in September.

Since vacating their offices in March 2020, media companies’ office returns have been a moving target. Some companies, such as The New York Times and Reuters, had planned to bring back employees in January but pushed back their timelines to this summer as coronavirus cases rose in the fall and early winter. Now media companies’ office return timeframes have solidified, though other aspects of the plans remain fluid as organizations try to ease employees back into their offices.

Media companies will start a phased reopening of their offices in July.
Companies will initially give employees the voluntary option to return to the office and, in some cases, will limit capacity.
In September, companies will formally reopen their offices.
Some companies will expect all employees to return to work from the office — at least partially — in September, while others will be more flexible at first.

In April, Digiday surveyed 329 media and marketing professionals in April and found that fewer than half of respondents said they would be willing to return to the office full-time over the next six months. Here is a closer look at some media companies’ policies.

BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed is starting with a “soft opening,” a voluntary return to offices starting around mid-July.

BuzzFeed’s teams will set their own expectations for “a broader return” in September, according to a spokesperson. The company will allow for a hybrid work model with more flexible schedules. For most roles and teams, employees will be expected to come into the office “some days but not others.” Final decisions haven’t been made yet on which teams will be expected to come in and for how many days, according to the spokesperson.

Condé Nast

Condé Nast already gives teams the option to use the office over the summer, a spokesperson said. The company aims to bring most people back starting September 7. It will combine fully onsite and hybrid work situations.

Forbes

Forbes will reopen offices on the week of September 13, for anyone who wants to return, with a flexible schedule.

Forbes conducted a “Return to the Office” survey in April. Nearly 90% of employees responded, according to a June 21 memo from Forbes CEO Mike Federle sent to staff and shared with Digiday. The results of the survey showed “a mix of personal preferences,” of remote and onsite work approaches, according to Federle. “Our plan is to accommodate both models by adopting a hybrid workforce,” he wrote.

Forbes managers will reach out to employees in the next few weeks to arrange one-on-one meetings with staff to discuss their preferred work schedule requests, according to the memo. This will help the company “prepare the facilities and tech support for an orderly return to the office,” Federle wrote.

Group Nine Media

Group Nine’s chief people officer Annie Trombatore updated all employees on June 25 about office reopening plans. …read more

Source:: Digiday