Too Much Milk, Not Enough Seats: EssenceMediacom’s Messy First Day of RTO at WTC

On Tuesday, April 1, more than 4,000 WPP employees in New York returned to fill the holding company’s 13 floors at the World Trade Center for the first official day of its four-day-per-week return to office (RTO) mandate. For one GroupM agency, EssenceMediacom, what could have been a smooth transition instead turned into a scavenger hunt for desks and an unintentional obstacle course. Employees said the 12th floor was particularly chaotic, though space issues were reported on other floors as well. One employee described the scene when they arrived at the 12th floor at 9:30 am: “Every single desk was gone… People were standing up and trying to find a desk,” this person said. “People were literally pulled up at side tables, sitting in fold-up chairs, trying to work.” That employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said they worked in the kitchen all day. Employees were reportedly forced to take meetings in hallways and calls in the printer room as conference rooms on their floor were being used for seating, according to sources. Others described “lines out the door for the elevator and the bathrooms.” Employees made do with lounge chairs as WPP's return-to-office day unfolded, according to an anonymous source. “We were really packed like sardines in the elevator,” another employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said. This person added that the energy in the office felt “aggressive and competitive,” as employees scoured for quiet spots to take calls or “set up camp” for the day. WPP’s U.S. president, Michael Houston, acknowledged the frustrations. He told ADWEEK that the office technically has enough space, but the distribution of employees across the 13 floors wasn’t optimized, causing overcrowding in particular areas. “We’re committed to creating an environment that works for people,” he said. “We have enough seats for everyone in the building, but what we haven’t done yet is optimize how we distribute that space.” He also addressed the lack of space in conference rooms: “We are working with our landlord, and we've already secured additional conference room space in the World Trade Center neighborhood and in our building itself, so hopefully we'll be able to accommodate all the meetings that need to take place,” he said. On Wednesday night, EssenceMediacom employees were notified via email the agency would temporarily reduce its in-office requirement for teams on the 12th floor from four days per week to two. Employees will follow an A/B team rotation, with Fridays designated as an “open day” when anyone is welcome to work from the office. The shift comes as the company works to secure more office space “at an alternative location on the campus” in order to fully implement its four-day policy, a WPP spokesperson told ADWEEK. The ping pong table, the milk, and the chaos Employees working in the most crowded areas quickly grew frustrated by the lack of space. Photos of the scene were shared online, where users anonymously submitted live updates from the day. Some employees briefly set up a communal desk on a ping pong table before they were asked to move, according to one source. Others described a free-for-all, where employees were using any available surface to work. “There were people sitting on filing cabinets [and] some people having conversations [in an area] where it's just a printer and some garbage cans,” recounted one worker. “A lot of the real estate was being used. It was kind of crazy to see.” On the 12th floor, an employee described “a fridge full of milk—regular, oat, almond—pretty much every type,” but “no space for anyone to put their lunch.” “Like, what are we supposed to do with all of this milk?” this person said. Houston, aware of the online chatter, said: “I’ve seen many of the memes and photos that everyone’s talking about. We clearly over stocked our refrigerators with milk. But of course, if we didn’t have any milk, we would have been hearing about it the other way as well.” Morale: the real empty desk While some saw the overstocked fridge as a quirky oversight, others pointed out that the lack of organization reflected deeper issues with the company’s RTO plans. WPP announced in January that staff would return to the office four days per week, giving agencies three months to prepare for the April 1 return date. The employee who worked in the 12th floor kitchen recounted a company town hall meeting that occurred on March 27, during which WPP CEO Mark Read addressed the RTO mandate. This person said the town hall “felt like we were District 12 in The Hunger Games” after Read warned there might not be enough space. “There’s very, very low morale, and beyond that, there’s a sense that leadership doesn’t care about us,” this person added. Others said that WPP’s handling of the office return felt dismissive, due to a lack of communication. “When it’s time for leadership to stand up, they go into the shadows,” another person said. WPP is set to host another town hall on April 3 with staff. However, one employee is insistent on not returning. “I’m not going in,” this person said. “I literally walked into this mess and said, ‘I’m not coming back.’” Correction 4/3 at 4:13pm ET: This story was updated to reflect that workers sitting at the ping pong table were asked to move elsewhere, but not due to a potential fire hazard.

Agencies

Too Much Milk, Not Enough Seats: EssenceMediacom’s Messy First Day of RTO at WTC

A look at the drama of one WPP agency's chaotic office return, according to firsthand employee accounts

Audrey Kemp

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