Washington Post Employees Ordered Back to Office 5 Days a Week

Employees at The Washington Post will be expected to work from the office five days a week next year, according to a new memo from the newspaper’s chief executive, the latest crackdown on pandemic-era remote work policies. All employees at The Post will be expected to return to the office by June 2, according to a memo from William Lewis, The Post’s chief executive. Managers must be back in the office full time by Feb. 3. “We are really good when we are working together in person,” Mr. Lewis wrote. The new policy at The Post — which is owned by the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — mirrors a similar edict announced by the e-commerce giant in September. In a memo to Amazon employees, Andy Jassy, the company’s chief executive, said that in-person collaboration allowed Amazon to move fast and retain its culture. The new policy at The Post could add to recent turmoil at the company, after Mr. Bezos’ decision to end the paper’s tradition of endorsing presidential candidates. That decision set off a wave of subscription cancellations and a rare rebuke from some of its top current and former journalists. The work-from-the-office change was greeted with instant disapproval from representatives of The Washington Post Guild, an employee union, which called the policy “inflexible and outdated.” “Guild leadership sees this for what it is: a change that stands to further disrupt our work rather than to improve our productivity or collaboration,” the guild said in a statement. Benjamin Mullin reports on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact him securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or at benjamin.mullin@nytimes.com. More about Benjamin Mullin Washington Post, Jeffrey P. Bezos Inside the Media Industry — Trump Bump 2.0?: Experts expect an audience surge during Donald Trump’s second term, but news fatigue and changing consumption habits could sap some of that enthusiasm over time. — The New York Times: The Times Tech Guild, which represents workers like software developers and data analysts at The New York Times, went on strike just ahead of the busy Election Day news period. — Town & Country Magazine: Stellene Volandes has brought new life to Town & Country, with snappy cover lines and an active social media presence. Could she be the next Anna Wintour? — The Daily Beast: Can Joanna Coles and Ben Sherwood revive the once-buzzy news site and reclaim their perches atop the New York media world? Their own staff isn’t sure. — The Washington Post: Hugh Hewitt, the conservative pundit, said that he would no longer write columns for the Post, where he had been a regular contributor to the paper’s opinion pages.