Publishers Further Delay Office Return

As 2022 opens, Manhattan-based publishers have delayed plans to return to their offices.

In a New Year’s message, Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch has called 2021, “a very successful year,” while also noting supply chain disruptions and return-to-office uncertainties.

According to Publishers Weekly, Pietsch said the pandemic, “has derailed our plan to return to our offices early in [2022] … Planning for that return requires a tremendous amount of work, especially with such a continually evolving situation, and I am deeply grateful to the teams handling that complex process.”

As 2021 closed, trade book sales maintained robust levels seen throughout the COVID-19, notes Andrew Albanese, PW senior writer. Nevertheless, the Omicron variant has crushed hopes that staff might return soon to offices in New York City and elsewhere.

“As 2022 opens, the major publishers here in NY have delayed plans to come back to the office,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “In the summer and early fall, life was starting to feel a little normal again. We talked about returning the office and to in-person book fairs. Now, that’s all on hold.”

Every Friday, CCC’s “Velocity of Content” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.