Miami Herald employees to work from home for rest of the year

The Miami Herald and its Spanish-language sister publication el Nuevo Herald informed staff on Tuesday that employees will work from home for the rest of the year.

The publications’ publisher and executive editor also warned staff in a memo that the economic impact of the coronavirus is resulting in “severe financial headwinds.”

Media companies across the spectrum have suffered due to the pandemic, with incoming advertising revenue most directly impacted. As a result, many publications and outlets have laid off or furloughed workers while cutting pay to journalists and management alike. 

Almost all outlets have asked employees to work from home in an effort to obey stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines, with some organizations indicating they may permanently alter their day-to-day operations in a post-pandemic world.

“The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated our organization’s ability to work remotely. Since mid-March, most of us have been working from home. From pandemic to protests, we haven’t skipped a beat thanks to technology, communication tools that connect us instantaneously and the hard work of our dedicated staff,” wrote executive editor Aminda Marqués González, who also serves as president of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.

“As the business model in our industry continues to change, and due to the economic impact of the coronavirus, we continue to face severe financial headwinds,” she continued.

“We know that the office space of today is not what the office space will be for tomorrow as it relates to social distancing and keeping our employees safe. For that reason, Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald employees will continue to work remotely through the end of the year,”  Marqués González added.

“After the New Year, once the commercial real estate industry has sorted itself out with regard to new standards and approaches, we will find a new, centralized home,” she added.

The announcement comes as major news organizations like CNN and social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter have said that most of their employees will likely work from home from the rest of the year due to the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 110,000 Americans.