CNN’s Zucker: Most staff will not return to offices before September

CNN employees currently working remotely won’t be returning to its offices until early September, CNN President Jeff Zucker said in a memo to employees on Wednesday.

Zucker, who has been at the helm of CNN since 2013, noted that approximately 10 percent of the organization’s workforce are still working out of their offices, with the total increasing to 15 percent in early June.

“Our expectation is that the rest of you will not return before early September, with a few exceptions in July for newsgathering and some in August, depending on the political conventions,” Zucker wrote in an email obtained by Deadline.  

“Of course, none of these dates are set in stone, with many questions left to be answered before we can move forward. But, to be clear, production of our programs will continue from home, as it is now, until the end of summer.  Same for digital,” he added. 

Zucker added that any return would include a phased approach.  

“We will phase back in very slowly, with emphasis in the beginning on roles that are directly related to keeping the CNN US network on the air, as well as newsgathering. As a result, for the majority of you, across all of our networks and platforms, return to the office will not happen in any significant way before the end of the summer.” 

Three CNN on-air anchors have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks, including Chris Cuomo, Brooke Baldwin and Richard Quest. 

Cuomo was released from quarantine earlier this week, while Baldwin and Quest say they have experienced relatively mild symptoms and are recovering at home.