Macmillan Publishers will officially reopen its offices on October 18, and its US Trade and Shared Services divisions will operate under a hybrid, remote-friendly model, which will be in effect as a pilot program until June 30 of next year.
Employees whose work can be done remotely will be able to choose whether, or how often, they return to the office to work. Staffers who choose to work from the office for three or more days a week will receive assigned seating.
“There is unquestionable value to the office being the nucleus of our business,” Macmillan CEO Don Weisberg said in a statement. “With that said, getting the reopening wrong will have the opposite effect. We believe that allowing employees more flexibility to choose how they return and engage with the office in the future will likely make the office more dynamic, more frequently-used, and a stronger hub for our business.”
The publisher is the first of the Big Five to officially lay out plans in a release to media, although the news comes a month after Penguin Random House US CEO Madeline McIntosh laid out similar, albeit more tentative, plans for PRH employees. HarperCollins will reportedly transition to a hot-desking strategy, but further details remain uncertain.
