LONDON — Journalists at the Financial Times invoked the company's dispute procedure over management plans to require editorial staff to work in the office four days a week by the end of the year. Members of the newspaper's union voted unanimously to escalate the matter at a meeting of the FT chapel of the National Union of Journalists.

The chapel held its meeting to invoke the dispute procedure with Tobias Buck, the Financial Times's managing editor. Under the newspaper's house agreement with staff, the dispute process has three escalating stages, and the union has the option to ballot for strike action.

The proposed policy would apply only to about 500 to 600 staff in FT Editorial who work at the London headquarters at Bracken House. About two-thirds of those staff are believed to be union members. Another 500 to 600 staff at the head office in the commercial, IT, events and HR departments, as well as those at FT Specialist, would not be covered. Staff in other offices, including overseas, would remain on more flexible hybrid working arrangements.

The union motion raised concerns about whether increasing office days by one would discriminate against parents, particularly mothers, and pointed to a detrimental financial impact on many staff. Some employees were hired with a commitment to three-day office working.

One staff member said of the announcement: "The email was a bolt out of the blue." The same staff member added: "We don't believe the case has been made at all."

A statement from the chapel addressed the timing of the change. "The FT chapel believes that the edict comes at a time when, more than ever, our coverage depends on the goodwill and flexibility of editorial staff. [This has resulted] in efforts that have contributed to high productivity, audience engagement and profit," the statement said.

According to an internal company report released last year, Financial Times global revenues increased by 6% to £540m in 2024, and global operating profit rose 41% year-on-year to £42.2m. The FT Group's global paying audience grew from 2.57 million at the end of 2023 to 2.83 million at the end of 2024. The FT alone reached 1.48 million paying readers across all formats in 2024, of which 1.35 million were digital subscribers. Filings at Companies House for Financial Times Ltd showed that revenue at the UK operation grew 2% to £454.6m in 2024, while operating profit at the UK operation decreased by 19% to £7.3m, attributed to inflation and investment in 30 extra employees.