The Washington Post could lose money this year after a business slowdown due to different reasons. In the post-Trump era, there was a decline in its readership, and also due to the fact that printed journalism is decaying. But according to Fred Ryan, the paper´s publisher and CEO, the problem is remote work, as not enough employers are coming to the office.
The remote work debate continues to heat up for many business owners. While many companies embrace flexible models, others think remote work harms productivity. Such is the case of Fred Ryan, who has been monitoring employees to see who has attended the office.
The Washington Post´s Wants to End Remote Work
The New York Times reported that The Washington Post could suffer losses due to a decline in readership and printed journalism (that aligns with ad sales) or the lack of a diversified portfolio. But for Ryan, productivity and office attendance go hand in hand.
Sources told the Times that he monitors how many staff members are in the office and requests video calls to measure productivity. Additionally, he has used different tactics to make people come back to the office, such as threats of firings and asking for disciplinary letters to be drafted to those employees who haven´t shown up in person at all during the year.
Ryan highlighted that many employees aren´t sticking to the three days per week in the office policy, and told his leadership team that there is not enough productivity among low performers in the newsroom “who need to be managed out”
