New York Times Headquarters Won’t Reopen Until September

The paper’s executives said it’s still unclear when it would be “safe for the majority of [New York staffers] to return to the office”

New York Times building
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New York Times staff who are working remotely due to the pandemic will not be returning to the paper’s New York City office until Sept. 8, at the earliest, Times executives announced on Tuesday.

In a memo sent to staff, publisher A.G. Sulzberger, president and CEO Mark Thompson, COO Meredith Kopit Levien and CFO Ronald Caputo said it’s still unclear when it would be “safe for the majority of [New York staffers] to return to the office.”

“There are circumstances when home working is quite difficult, so it’s understandable that some colleagues would like to return to the office voluntarily before the current policy changes. That isn’t possible yet, but we will explore ways of partially reopening our offices before September if we can,” the executives wrote. They also said the paper would be exploring a “long-term vision for remote working at The Times” in the coming weeks.

For staff based outside of New York, the executive said they’d be making decisions based on “local advice,” while those in New York whose “physical presence is essential” to their work in the office will continue to do report to the headquarters.

Other news organizations have been contemplating when the majority of staff can safely return to their respective offices. Last month, CNN president Jeff Zucker said that CNN staffers shouldn’t expect to return to their offices “in any significant way” before the end of summer.

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