Cathy Merrill, Chief Executive of Washingtonian Media, prompted her entire staff to go on strike today, May 5, 2021. Her company publishes the glossy Washingtonian magazine, official source of the best brunches in DC, which restaurants the Biden administration prefers and luxury real estate. The CEO wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post concerning her staff coming back to the office. She quoted stats from commercial real estate firms, whose businesses depend on leasing office space, claiming that millennial and Gen X workers were eager to return to commuting into offices. Additionally, the executive shared a personal anecdote about the “son of a friend” who chose an employer who would offer in office work arrangements quicker than others.
Inexplicably, Merrill doesn’t mention what her own staff feels about working from the office again.
I am concerned about the unfortunately common office worker who wants to continue working at home and just go into the office on occasion.
Now, we face re-creating a workplace where a good culture of trust will be harder to build.
Cathy Merrill, Chief Executive of Washingtonian Media
The next graph in Merrill’s op-ed was chilling for employees working hard during a deadly pandemic. She threatens to convert employees who won’t work in the office to what she calls “contractor status.” Merrill dangles the idea of not paying for these employees health care…during a pandemic. And she would withold “extras such as bonuses”. Not exactly the morale booster Washingtonian Magazine staff expected.
I estimate that about 20 percent of every office job is outside one’s core responsibilities — “extra.” It involves helping a colleague, mentoring more junior people, celebrating someone’s birthday — things that drive office culture. If the employee is rarely around to participate in those extras, management has a strong incentive to change their status to “contractor.” Instead of receiving a set salary, contractors are paid only for the work they do, either hourly or by appropriate output metrics. That would also mean not having to pay for health care, a 401(k) match and our share of FICA and Medicare taxes —benefits that in my company’s case add up roughly to an extra 15 percent of compensation. Not to mention the potential savings of reduced office space and extras such as bonuses and parking fees.
Cathy Merrill, Chief Executive of Washingtonian Media
Merrill is stressed out about less meetings and employees missing out on decisions being made. However, there are collaboration apps like Microsoft Teams and Slack that work well for quick check-ins, meetings and sharing of information rapidly.
The Washingtonian staff is officially on strike today in a strong show of unity. All organized effectively by what Merrill called “unfortunately common office workers.”
A HuffPost reporter caught the op-ed headline changing. Merrill told Jamieson that she felt the original was inaccurate.
