Publisher Reopenings Pushed Back
Many publishers have once again paused, postponed, or rescinded their plans to open offices for in-person employees, this time in response to the rise of the omicron variant of COVID-19.
Macmillan was scheduled to reopen its offices in New York City on January 10, but the opening has been postponed indefinitely. Employees will receive 30 days notice before they have to come back. Vaccinated staff may continue to come in voluntarily.
Hachette also announced that there is no solid date for employees to return in 2022, but they also allow vaccinated staff to come to the office if they wish. CEO Michael Pietsch said, “We intend to return as soon in 2022 as we feel confident that we can bring people back to all of our offices safely, and we will provide at least four weeks’ notice ahead of our return date.”
Simon & Schuster’s offices won’t reopen until April 4, 2022 at the earliest.
Penguin Random House doesn’t have a set date, but employees may come in to the office if they’re masked and vaccinated.
HarperCollins is in a “pilot period,” with employees coming in voluntarily. It was the last of the major publishers to impose a vaccine requirement, but in December, the publisher sent a memo stating that only vaccinated staff and visitors could enter the New York office.
See this post and more like it in the January 2022 issue of Locus.
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