Register by Jan 13 to save on passes and connect with marketers from Uber, Bose and more
Digiday Research: What return to the physical office looks like for media workers — fewer meetings, less snacks
This research is based on unique data collected from our proprietary audience of publisher, agency, brand and tech insiders. It’s available to Digiday+ members. More from the series →
The return to the physical office is a far off idea for most in the industry.
A new Digiday survey found that for 42% of media industry workers, their company hasn’t said anything concrete about when they’re expected to return back to the office. For 28% of employees, they expect to be back in the physical office by the end of the third quarter of this year. About 9% said they have been told they can work from home permanently.
Inside ad agencies, about 45% said their employers hadn’t said anything concrete, while for 29%, they expected to be back in the office by the end of the third quarter as well. About 7% were told they can work from home permanently.
Of course, the return to physical offices is anything but normal. A whopping 73% of agency workers and 88% of media workers said working from home will now be encouraged and accepted. About 39% of agencies and 36% of publishing workers said they expect a reduction in shared amenities and around 40% said they expected fewer snacks. And 32% of agencies, and 37% of publishing workers said they expect fewer meetings to take place.
As we previously reported, at agencies and publishers, 58% of respondents said they missed working in an office. But what they miss varies — and this is what employers are trying to figure out when they seek to replicate the in-office collaboration and serendipity so missing from remote workplaces.
More in Media
Media Briefing: Here’s what media execs are prioritizing in 2026
Media executives enter 2026 weathered by disruption, but refocused on AI revenue, brand strength and video and creator opportunities.
Why publishers are building their own creator networks
Publishers are forming creator networks to regain control, combat traffic declines, and reach audiences shifting toward influencers.
The accidental guardian: How Cloudflare’s Matthew Prince became publishing’s unexpected defender
Cloudflare’s day job is fending off botnets and nation-state cyberattacks, not debating how Google and other AI firms crawl publisher sites.