💼 Trying RTO (again)

…and Popeyes dives into China’s fast-food frenzy   Empty-deskers (10'000 Hours/Getty Images)   Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 34,473 (+0.54%) S&P 500 4,436 (+1.10%) Nasdaq 13,721 (+1.59%) Bitcoin $26,318 (+1.06%) Dow Jones 34,473 (+0.54%) S&P 500 4,436 (+1.10%) Nasdaq 13,721 (+1.59%) Bitcoin $26,318 (+1.06%) Hey Snackers, If half your team is out today, don’t be surprised. August 24 is the [most common]( day of the year for workers to call in sick, followed by the Monday after the Super Bowl. End-of-summer scaries? Yesterday the S&P 500 had its biggest daily gain since June as investors waited for earnings from [Nvidia]( which spiked after the chipmaker crushed expectations after the bell. OOO Meta and Goldman double down on return-to-office mandates as a third of desks sit empty Third time’s the charm… when you’re not kiddin’ around (for real this time). [Meta]( and [Goldman Sachs]( are wagging their fingers, telling disobedient employees that playtime’s over and it’s time to get back to the IRL office. Last week, Meta rolled out its new “in-person time policy,” which features ID-badge monitoring and warnings of firing. (The few “metamates” with remote exceptions are having their unfettered office access revoked.) And Goldman just kicked off a renewed push to get workers back in the office five days/week. They’re not alone: - Et tu, Zoom’te? Remote-work enabler [Zoom]( told employees within 50 miles of an office to RTO at least two days/week. - Ama-zon’t think so: In its RTO zeal, [Amazon]( reportedly told some employees to relocate to keep their jobs. In response, some quit. Pushin’ that RTO rock up the hill… with no peak in sight. While some megacorps are all in on #officelife, buildings aren’t exactly bustling. Recently, office attendance was <50% of prepandemic levels in 10 major US biz districts. One report found that a third of office desks worldwide sit empty all week, with another third used less than three hours/day. In June, [ZipRecruiter]( chief economist called WFH a “permanent shift.” THE TAKEAWAY Welcome to the two normals… Big biz is bifurcating on RTO, with the likes of Amazon and Meta mandating butts in seats, and others like [Atlassian]( [Airbnb]( [Dropbox]( [GitLab]( and [Okta]( saying they’re remote-first or office-optional. The future may not be entirely remote or 100% in the office, but split between companies embracing one or the other. FYI: companies offering remote and hybrid work have been hiring at twice the rate of those with full time in-office requirements. Crispy Popeyes spreads its wings in China as US chains cash in on the country’s fast-food craze Spicy chicken in Shanghai… Popeyes is cookin’ up a big comeback in China after mysteriously closing all nine of its locations there in April. The fried-chicken franchise plans to open 1.7K stores in China in the next decade, with 10 openings in the next quarter. FYI: Popeyes is owned by [Restaurant Brands International]( (owner of Burger King and Tim Hortons) in the US, but operates under Tims China in China. - Sweet heat: While Popeyes plans to offer its iconic spicy chicken and popcorn shrimp, it’ll also serve more localized dishes like sweet chili chicken and pomelo milkshakes. - Long lines: Throngs queued up for Popeyes’ Shanghai flagship opening last week, giving the company an opening-day record for orders. Slow times, fast food… China is struggling to bounce back from its strict pandemic policies, but consumers haven’t stopped splurging on fast food. Thanks to viral menu favorites and Gen Z’s love of all things fried, China’s fast-food market has surged 70% since 2017. Now US chains are doubling down. Subway plans to open 3K+ new shops in China to expand its footlong footprint by 7X over the next 20 years. [McDonald’s]( is opening 900 locations in China this year, while [Starbucks]( aims to have 9K shops in its second-largest market by 2025. THE TAKEAWAY Recoveries can be lopsided… Lots of US companies have reported taking a hit from China’s underwhelming recovery (most recently, construction giant [Caterpillar]( and cosmetics titan [Estée Lauder](. But restaurants and hotels are telling a different story. In Shanghai, spending on hotels and dining out soared 42% to $2.6B in the first half of this year, boosting results for companies like [Marriott]( and Starbucks. Unpacked Snacks Unpacked: Hollywood studios’ latest WGA offer drops as reality TV grows restless After nearly four months of the writers’ strike… Hollywood studios and streamers [released]( details of their revised contract proposal for the 11.5K-member union yesterday, but the WGA was unimpressed. Some deets: - Writers would receive a 13% pay bump over three years, access to streaming viewership data, and some protections re AI-generated material. - Union leadership said the offer was filled with loopholes and had omissions, and it urged writers to keep picketing. The guild said a follow-up face-to-face with execs like [Disney]( Bob Iger, [Warner Bros. Discovery]( David Zaslav, and [Netflix]( Ted Sarandos was less a meeting than a lecture intended to get the union to cave. Reality setting in… As the content crunch from striking writers and actors begins to hit studio earnings, a new group is looking to join the movement: reality-TV casts and crews. Unscripted content has historically been a load-bearer for studios during strikes as it's largely nonunion. - SAG-AFTRA (the performers’ union) said this month that it’s working toward protections for reality entertainers to end “exploitative practices” in the industry. - A former cast member sued Netflix’s “Love Is Blind,” alleging brutal set conditions and pay amounting to about $7/hour. - “Real Housewives” star Bethenny Frankel recently said, “I got paid $7,250 for my first season of reality TV, and people are still watching those episodes.” - If reality stars revolt, studios will be facing an even bigger content nightmare. What else we're Snackin' - [Chipper]( Nvidia lifted its guidance after reporting that its quarterly sales doubled from a year earlier on red-hot demand for its AI chips. It forecast a better-than-expected $16B in revenue for this quarter. - [Aberzombie]( [Abercrombie & Fitch]( has risen from its Y2K grave. Its Q2 revenue soared past expectations, and it’s predicting sales will pop 10% this year, even as [Foot Locker]( and [Target]( say discresh-spend is down. - [Fence]( Mortgage demand is at a 28-year low as rates hit a two-decade high, climbing toward 8%. While existing-home sales fell last month on scarce inventory, new-home sales picked up. - [Catastrophe]( The fires in Hawaii could cost the local economy up to $6B in property damage and business interruptions. At least 115 people died in the disaster and 800 are missing. President Biden has pledged federal aid. - [Brakes]( [Peloton]( shares fell 20% after the spin icon announced a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss. The pandemic favorite pointed to a summer slowdown in hardware sales (it’s vacay time, not gym time) and a 2M-bike recall. 🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up [here](. 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