Washington Post Tells Employees: It’s Time to Go Back to the Office

The Washington Post has ordered employees to return to the office five days a week, according to a memo from publisher Will Lewis. Managers will have to return from February 3, 2025, while all other employees are expected back in the office from June 2.

“I want us to have that wonderful office energy every day,” Lewis writes. “I am reliably aware that this was the case here before Covid and it is important that we bring it back.”

Message sent employees home March 10, 2020, when the scale of the Covid pandemic became apparent. From spring 2022, employees are required to be in the office at least three days a week.

There is an exception: if you are reporting from outside your home, this counts as being in the office, as does a call for advertisers. “The change is that there is a presumption that you will be in the office between those key work or personal meetings,” Lewis writes, “the same conditions you had under the three-day-a-week rule, but now for five days. »

In response, the Washington Post Guild, the union that represents many of the paper’s employees, sent an email to members with the subject line “RTO (Return to Organizing).” In the memo, union leaders say, “Guild leadership sees this for what it is: a change that will further undermine our work rather than improve our productivity or cooperation.” They said the long period of time during which Guild members would have to report five days a week “means we have time to organize a response.”

Here is Lewis’s note:

Hello,

Thank you all so much for your hard work and dedication during this important week for America and the world.

We produced great journalism for our clients and the office became a vibrant place to be. I want this wonderful office energy to be there every day. I know for a fact that this was the case before Covid, and it is important that we bring it back.

You know how much we all have to do to improve our company, and I don’t believe we can do that successfully by scaling. We really enjoy working together in person.

It is in this spirit that we will be returning to the office five days a week in the coming months.

By February 3, 2025, we want all managers to be back in the office (that’s all HR managers at all levels of the company). All other colleagues will be required to return to the office five days a week until June 2, 2025. These return-to-office plans also apply to those remote colleagues within driving distance of our DC or New York offices.

All other remote work options, whether permanent or new, will require departmental approval and will be based on business needs, the nature of the role and related factors.

We know that for some people this change from three to five days in the office will be welcomed and will be an easy transition. We know that for others it will be an adjustment – you may have to adapt your daily routine and rediscover old ways of managing your work-life balance. That is why we are giving more than six months for many of our colleagues to work on this issue.

When we say “go back to the office,” not much will change. Whether you’re a reporter doing a report, a salesperson making sales, or a colleague going to a doctor’s appointment, proceed as usual. The change is that there is a presumption that you will be in the office between these key work or personal meetings – the same conditions as the three-day-a-week rule, but now for five days.

You’ll likely have questions, and you’ll soon hear more from your department heads. In the meantime, please direct any specific questions to [email protected] or our Human Resources department.

William

Here’s a note from the Guild:

Hi all-

Like many of you, we are saddened to learn that after four years of successful flexible working, The Post is planning to introduce an inflexible and outdated office work policy that does not reflect the reality of how we work and live. Guild leadership sees this for what it is: a change that will further disrupt our work rather than improve our productivity or cooperation.

Here’s the good news: the contract you all voted to approve in December includes an additional letter for detailed notice, and management readily acknowledges that employees under Guild protection should not make any changes until June 2 at the earliest. This means we have time to organize a response.

Please submit ideas here and feel free to reach out to members of the leadership team (I’ll list our names below) to volunteer to become more involved in this effort. We would like to assemble a committee as soon as possible. If you would like to be specifically involved, please email [email protected].

Together we are, as always, stronger.

Disclosure: WashingtonThe magazine’s editorial staff, like the Post Guild’s, is represented by the Washington-Baltimore News Guild.

Senior Editor

Andrew Beaujon joined Washington at the end of 2014. He previously worked at the Poynter Institute, TBD.com and Washington City Newspaper. He lives in Del Ray.