What we’re reading (3/17)
“Weekly Peak Office Attendance Is Still Nowhere Near Pre-Pandemic Levels” (Axios). “Office occupancy levels on the busiest day of the week are just 62% of their February 2020 average, according to Kastle Systems' office swipe data for 10 major metros…[w]hile occupancy is at 61.7% on those high-attendance days, it falls to around 35% on Fridays.”
“The Job Market For Remote Workers Is Shrinking” (Wall Street Journal). “After remote work surged during the pandemic, fewer employers now feel the need to lure talent with the promise of working from home. Remote jobs made up 13.2% of postings advertised on LinkedIn last month—down from 20.6% in March. Other job sites such as Indeed.com and ZipRecruiter also report declines in remote listings.”
“The Great Paradox Of The U.S. Market!” (Jeremy Grantham). “Well, the U.S. is really enjoying itself if you go by stock prices. A Shiller P/E of 34 (as of March 1st) is in the top 1% of history. Total profits (as a percent of almost anything) are at near-record levels as well. Remember, if margins and multiples are both at record levels at the same time, it really is double counting and double jeopardy – for waiting somewhere in the future is another July 1982 or March 2009 with simultaneous record low multiples and badly depressed margins.”
“Is PE Ready For College Sports?” (Institutional Investor). “PE firms have the potential to clash with nonprofit colleges and universities. Managers will have to navigate controversial issues regarding student-athletes, including whether they’ll be employees, and marketing rights. (Players on the men’s basketball team at Dartmouth College voted earlier this month to unionize.) The reshuffling of sports conferences, including the Big Ten and Pac-12, may bring uncertainty to finances. Managers may even face issues under Title IX rules, as they go after football and men’s basketball, the two most popular college sports.”
“EU Approves Landmark AI Law, Leapfrogging US To Regulate Critical But Worrying New Technology” (CNN Business). “The first-of-its-kind law is poised to reshape how businesses and organizations in Europe use AI for everything from health care decisions to policing. It imposes blanket bans on some ‘unacceptable’ uses of the technology while enacting stiff guardrails for other applications deemed ‘high-risk.’”
