CEO’s apology over ‘threatening’ op-ed raises questions over future of working from home

Cathy Merrill apologised to DC-based magazine staff after they refused to contribute to the website for a day, writes Graeme Massie

As more people are vaccinated, there are questions about what a post-pandemic world will look like for office workers (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The Washingtonian staff backlash illustrates the challenge that employers face of convincing workers of returning to their offices after more than year of operating from home.

Editorial staff at the DC-based magazine refused to publish online on Friday, the day after the chief executive wrote a controversial op-ed about the future of remote work.

In the opinion piece for The Washington Post, Cathy Merrill, the CEO of Washington Media, angered her own staff when she wrote about her concerns about “the unfortunately common office worker who wants to continue working at home and just go into the office on occasion.”

And she added that people who chose to continue working from home were handing executives, like herself, “a tempting economic option the employees might not like.”

Ms Merrill continued that those workers not participating in “extra” responsibilities that come with office life, may face the possibility of losing their status as full-time employees and the important benefits that go with that.

“If the employee is rarely around to participate in those extras, management has a strong incentive to change their status to ‘contractor,’” she wrote.

CEO Cathy Merrill (Washingtonian)

This in turn would save the company money by cutting the costs of things like employer provided health care and retirement benefits, as well as the physical amount of office space needed.

And Ms Merrill wrote “that in my company’s case [these] add up roughly to an extra 15 per cent of compensation.”

The pushback among her own employers was swift, and although they continued to work on the magazine, they refused to contribute to the Washingtonian website.

“As members of the Washingtonian editorial staff, we want our CEO to understand the risks of not valuing our labor,” senior editor Andrew Beaujon, and other staff members, posted on Twitter.

Ms Merrill apologised to her staff on Friday for the furore she had caused.

“Washingtonian embraces a culture in which employees are able to express themselves openly. I value each member of our team not only on a professional level but on a personal one as well,” she said in a statement to The Independent.

“I could not be more proud of their work and achievements under the incredibly difficult circumstances of the past year. I have assured our team that there will be no changes to benefits or employee status.

“I am sorry if the op-ed made it appear like anything else.”

In addition to the statement, Ms Merrill also sent staff a memo in which she said no changes were being made to their benefits or status.

“I understand that some of you have read it as threatening, or as an indication that I’m anything less than ecstatically appreciative of the work and sacrifice of our team in 2020,” she told them.

“As I have expressed many times, in a year that was especially difficult for me personally, I could not be happier or prouder or have more gratitude in my heart for all of you. I’m so sorry that the op-ed made it look like anything else.”

But she confirmed that remote working would only remain an option until the pandemic is over.

“And, just as we’ve been a flexible office since long before Covid-19, we will make accommodations for staff who need them for as long as the pandemic lasts,” she wrote.

Ms Merrill is not the only business leader who has taken a shot at the remote working culture that the pandemic has created.

JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon has told his US employees that they should get used to returning to work this month, and wants 50 per cent of staff rotating through offices by July.

Mr Dimon told The Wall Street Journal CEO Council that remote working was no replacement for actually being in the office.

“But it does not work for young people,” he said.

“It doesn’t work for those who want to hustle. It doesn’t work in terms of spontaneous idea generation.”

And he added:  “We want people back to work, and my view is that sometime in September, October it will look just like it did before.

“And everyone is going to be happy with it, and yes, the commute, you know people don’t like commuting, but so what.”

And he added that he was personally done with having meetings over Zoom.

“I’m about to cancel all my Zoom meetings,” he said.

But he conceded that some people would not be happy with being back in the office.

“The wife of a husband sent me a nasty note about ‘How can you make him go back?’” added Mr Dimon.

Goldman Sachs has also told its workers in the US and the UK to be back in their offices by June.

“We know from experience that our culture of collaboration, innovation and apprenticeship thrives when our people come together, and we look forward to having more of our colleagues back in the office so that they can experience that once again on a regular basis,” wrote Chief Operating Officer John Waldron and Chief Financial Officer Stephen Scherr in a memo to staff.

The return of workers to offices across the United States has continued to be slow.

Employee office visits in 10 large US cities reached 26.1 per cent of the pre-pandemic level at the the week ending 21 April.

The data was collected by Kastle Systems, which provides technology that tracks data through swipes of keycards and other devices. 

Dallas and other Texan cities have topped the charts of employee returns, while cities such as San Francisco and New York have been at the bottom of the list.