Penske Cuts Work-From-Home Employment With In-Office Mandate, Forced Resignations
Briefly

Penske Media Corporation will require employees to work at least four days per week at company offices beginning in October, with an Oct. 4 deadline to decide. Employees who refuse will be eligible for severance benefits. The mandate covers staff across PMC publications and brands, including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Deadline, the Golden Globes and South by Southwest. The policy cites corporate culture and productivity concerns, arguing remote work reduces ad hoc collaboration and engagement. Many PMC employees currently live far from company offices in Los Angeles, New York, Austin or Miami. Multiple studies since 2020 report remote workers are often more productive, happier, and more profitable.
Penske informed staff in a memo, sent Friday and published Monday by Oliver Darcy, that they have until Oct. 4 to decide if they will comply, with the clear implication being that those who do not have effectively tendered their resignation. Indeed, according to Darcy, an FAQ attached to the memo explicitly states that those who refuse will be eligible for severance benefits, indicating the company already expects there will be refusals.
"At a time we need to be solving problems faster, we find ourselves foregoing quick ad hoc brainstorming meetings, taking longer to find workable meeting times, and seeing uneven engagement from remote participants," the memo said in part. (It's worth noting that multiple studies since 2020 have found the precise opposite to be true, and that remote workers are more productive and happier, and generate more money for their employers.)
The mandate also appears to affect not just staff working for the larger PMC but at all of PMC's publications and brands. These include Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Deadline, the Golden Globes and South by Southwest. Many Penske properties do not require staff to work on site at all and employ people who live nowhere near Los Angeles, New York, Austin or Miami, where PMC maintains offices.
Read at TheWrap
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