As some publishers seek full return to office, most staff favour hybrid working

Staff are being asked to spend more time in the office at several UK media companies five years on from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But a survey of Press Gazette readers (full findings below) suggests most employees at media companies favour a hybrid approach to work and only around one in five are currently working in the office full time.

And the survey (which was targeted at employees rather than freelances) showed that people often spend more or less time in the office than their official company policy would suggest.

At the start of March, Conde Nast implemented a policy in which staff in the UK and the US are expected to be in the office four days a week and at home for only one day.

Tortoise also has a four-day policy, meaning staff at The Observer will go from being in the office three days to four days when they begin publishing under new ownership next month.

The Economist Group is increasing its expectations from two days to three days a week from 1 April.

And at magazine publisher Hearst staff are currently in the office three days a week but Press Gazette understands this is expected to move to four days later this year.

Three days a week in the office appears to be the most common practice according to Press Gazette’s research, with the Financial Times, News UK, The Guardian, Sky News, Future, Haymarket and Ladbible all adopting this hybrid approach.

But one respondent to Press Gazette’s recent survey on this issue said: “Oh my god I hate hybrid working. I work in a national newsroom with a notional three-days-in-the-office policy, but many many colleagues find ways not to come in three times a week.

“The newsroom is half empty, we have painful hybrid meetings, and then staff wonder why there is no official social culture and why they feel so isolated. In my view we should get people back to work four or five days.”

For more of the current feeling on office vs home working from employees across the industry, read our accompanying piece here.

Which media companies are in the office full-time?

A Press Gazette dinner held last month for about a dozen senior media executives heard that overall they would love to get their staff back in the office more often but accept the world has changed and it is not a fight worth having with staff who value more flexibility.

GB News, The Telegraph and regional publisher Newsquest all have a clear full-time office policy (with some exceptions).

Newsquest continues to have a similar number of offices across the UK as it did before the Covid-19 pandemic, with 21 city- or town-based offices for its dailies and a further 33 offices or workspaces for weeklies that don’t share space with the bigger titles.

Newsquest editorial development director Toby Granville told Press Gazette: “Unless staff are on training days, all journalists are typically expected to be in the office/reporting on patch every working day, except for our print content editors (formerly sub-editors) who can work from home.

“We believe that having the physical newsrooms environment both demonstrates our deep long-term commitment to the communities we serve, and staff, particularly trainee reporters, benefit enormously from the close collaboration in-person with editors, news editors, and other reporters to develop and exercise their skills.”

Press Gazette understands Mail publisher DMG Media would also like most people in the office most of the time.

And Freddie Sayers, chief executive of Old Queen Street Ventures which owns Unherd and bought The Spectator last year, told Press Gazette most staffers at the company are in the office five days a week but they are “pretty accommodating” if people need to be more flexible.

Hybrid working: office or agile, home or hub

News UK has a minimum requirement of three days in the office across The Sun and The Times. A Times spokesperson noted that “with the vast variety of roles across News UK/Times Media that can vary depending on requirements, and includes some who work five days a week in office”.

The BBC classes its staff as office or “agile” workers. Office workers are expected to work from a specific location due to their job, which may need specialist equipment for example, while agile workers tend to average two to three days in the office and the rest at home.

Reach, which has a two-floor headquarters at Canary Wharf in London and regional offices around the UK, has a lot of variation between teams and roles under a “home and hub” approach first adopted in 2021 when it closed many of its offices.

There has been some gradual change towards more office work in the past three years but about half (49%) of Reach staff are classed as predominantly remote workers.

Just under a third (30%) of Reach staff are hybrid, and 21% are hub-based (although this percentage includes those working at printing facilities).

Several respondents mention that they have to be hybrid because their office was downsized during the Covid-19 pandemic and there is no longer room for all staff to be in at the same time.

Benefits of ‘anchor days’

Many of the businesses specify one or more mandatory days people should be in the office, with other days more flexible. For example magazine publisher Bauer Media has two designated anchor days on which teams go in to collaborate, while staff are expected to go in on other days if there is a need. The Financial Times has set Tuesday to Thursday as its three main in-office days.

At specialist publisher Haymarket, people and communications director Celia MacMillan explained: “The way we work changed forever after the pandemic and our focus has always been on striking the right balance. Since introducing Haymarket’s hybrid working policy back in 2021, we’ve remained consistent in our approach, expecting all of us to be in the office at least three days a week and offering the flexibility to work remotely for the remaining two. One key evolution of this, based on employee feedback, was the introduction of our anchor days.

“These designated days ensure individuals and teams from across the business can collaborate in person, fostering stronger connections but still allowing for flexibility outside of those times.

“We also operate core hours as we’re big on promoting a healthy work-life balance. Employees can structure their day around personal needs – whether that’s caring responsibilities or commuting preferences – while ensuring team collaboration during set hours in the day.

“Something we introduced post-pandemic was our ‘Working from Anywhere’ scheme, which allows employees to take week-long stints of working remotely throughout the year. Whether that’s combining work with a holiday, for working around childcare arrangements, religious purposes or whatever the reason, it’s hugely popular. Industry working habits will inevitably continue to evolve, and getting it right is crucial for productivity and wellbeing, while still allowing creativity to thrive.”

Similarly a spokesperson for DC Thomson said the Press & Journal publisher “is a hybrid business, but many colleagues and teams enjoy being in the newsroom noting the benefits of collaboration, working in teams, being able to quick convene with others, feel less isolated, more connected. With offices in the heart of the city, it also helps journalists stay connected to the communities we serve.  

“Our newsrooms tend to have two anchor days a week that can used for wider team updates, project collaborations and face to face meetings, as well as meetings with other parts of the business. “

In most of the above cases the policies make clear to staff that they are expected to be in the office more often than the minimum if there are business needs for them to do so.

Press Gazette survey: eight in ten back hybrid working

Press Gazette surveyed our newsletter readers last week to understand their experiences and how they feel about their working balance.

Of the 158 responses, of which 54% came from editorial roles and 84% from the UK, 79% said a hybrid/flexible model with some days in the office was the most productive and effective way to work.

Some 13% each said being fully remote or fully office-based was better.

Despite the recent trend towards more in-office working, 28% of respondents said they continue to be fully remote in a typical week. One of those people said however that “hybrid would be better. [I am] too out of touch.”

The next biggest proportion (22%) said they were in the office five days a week.

Some 17% said they were in the office two days a week, with 16% in three days.

Editorial staff were the most polarised in terms of their working situation: 35% worked at home all the time whereas 25% were fully office-based.

About a third (34%) of respondents worked in national news media, with 27% in local media, 23% in specialist/B2B and 17% in magazines.

Those working in local media were most likely to work full-time at home (44%). Just over a third of local media workers (35%) were conversely in the office full-time.

In the national media, three days a week in the office was most common among our respondents (26%) followed by five days (24%), zero days (22%) and both two or four days (12% each).

In magazine media, going into the office two days a week was most common (32%) followed by five days (26%).

Many complimented the way a hybrid model is being run at their employer.

One person explained the real balance being struck: "I think if you purely consider it from an efficacy perspective then office is the way forward. Once you start considering staff morale and quality of life then hybrid is the answer."

Another said: "More time in the office than not seems to the be sweet spot. Hybrid working is ultimately a trade off between the effective running of the business which would favour more time together in person, and personal flexibility which is critical to attract and retain talent."

However several admitted they think a blanket return to the office would be good for their business. One said: "It's not convenient with child care, spend on travel in an industry that's cut salaries and lunch costs etc but would help in many other ways."

Editorial meetings in particular were described as being better in person. But having different rules for editorial and other departments, as some publishers do, was flagged as a potential issue for staff.

Read more from our survey respondents via our accompanying piece here.

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