Dow Jones, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, told its staff on Tuesday that it would not be mandating a return to the office in March, instead taking a “hybrid and flexible” approach.
Almar Latour, chief executive, and Dianne deSevo, chief people officer, sent an email to all company leaders. They said they would discuss the best type of return for their teams, and that they would begin applying it next month.
“We know that different teams have different needs — that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to how and where we work,” they wrote in the email, which was obtained by The New York Times.
Dow Jones encompasses The Wall Street Journal as well as the Dow Jones newswires, Barron’s, Financial News and MarketWatch.
Many companies are now struggling to find the right time and place to bring back their workers after two years of remote work. This has changed the way people see commutes and cubicles.
The Washington Post, which is owned by Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, told its workers on Feb. 11 that they would be required to return to the office next month. Managers will be returning on March 1 and other employees on March 15.
“In this first phase of return, we will be experimenting in a hybrid environment with all employees working in the office at least three days per week,” Wayne Connell, the vice president of human resources at The Post, wrote in an email to staff that was viewed by The Times.
The email stated that workers with children under five who are not yet vaccinated or have family members with compromised immunity can apply for a three month extension to work from their home.
The Times has not yet established a date for its return to work force.
