The AtlanticThe Atlantic

The Five-Day Workweek Is Dying

By Derek Thompson

23 Feb 2022 · 7 min read

America is slowly returning to normal. Stadiums are packed. Travel has bounced back. Restaurant reservations are surging.

But even as they resume normal leisure activities, many Americans still aren’t going back to the office. According to data from Kastle Systems, which tracks building access across the country, office attendance is at just 33 percent of its pre-pandemic average. That’s lower than in-person attendance in just about any other industry for which we have good data. Even movie theaters—a business sometimes written off as “doomed”—have recovered almost twice as much.

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