Restaurants and bars in major cities still struggling to generate business on Mondays and Fridays.

Restaurants and bars in major cities are still struggling to draw the same crowds on Mondays and Fridays as before COVID, and many office workers continue to work from home on those days, according to a new report.

Nightlife venue owners in big city shopping districts say that while business is essentially back to normal on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, the start and end of the week is still delayed, according to CNBC.

Many blame the persistence and popularity of hybrid work arrangements, which have made three days in the office the norm for many white-collar workers.

A survey last month found that 40% of workers nationwide are still working fully remote or hybrid, with an average annual decline in spending near the office of more than $4,000 per worker in New York, DC and Los Angeles.

“Although it can be busy on Wednesdays and Thursdays, your Mondays and Fridays can be very slow,” Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, told CNBC.

Among all full-time workers in the US, 40% work fully remotely or in a hybrid arrangement

New York had seen the largest decline in average annual spending per person near the office, down $4,661

“If someone walked by a restaurant at lunch or dinner on a Thursday, they might say, ‘Wow, that restaurant is full, they’re so busy,’ but that’s not the case every day,” he added.

When the COVID pandemic hit in May 2020, more than 61% of people were working from home, a figure that has only halved despite the country’s attempts to recover.

The work-from-home rate was just 4.7% before the pandemic, a stark difference that has experts worried about the continued impact on many industries.

Now, almost three years after the start of the pandemic, data collected by WFH Research found that the level of working from home is still six times higher than before.

And this level rises to almost 50 percent of all employees who insist on working remotely in large urban areas, such as New York and Washington DC.

While convenience and cost and commute time savings are important for workers, the trend has been tough for businesses in many major downtown areas.

Last month, the only Ruth’s Chris Steak House location in Manhattan announced it was closing after 30 years, when the lease expired and the parent company decided not to renew.

DC has seen the largest reduction in on-site work days since before the pandemic

The hospitality industry is still struggling to adapt to changing work trends (file image)

As the hospitality industry continues to struggle and high inflation continues to change spending patterns, the persistence of hybrid and remote work worries some economists.

“It has affected a lot of things,” Nicholas Bloom, an economist at Stanford University and a WFH researcher, told The Hill.

It has affected the fabric of the city. It is affecting the days of the week that people play sports: golf, tennis. It is affecting retail.

The researcher said that remote work is affecting spending in some cities, as old industrial hubs are failing to return to their former glory.

In New York, Bloom said, the city’s coffers “will see about $12 billion less in spending in midtown Manhattan,” the center of the city’s financial sector.

The WFH research survey found that New York had seen the largest decrease in average annual spending per person near the office, down $4,661.

Los Angeles followed with $4,200, Washington DC with $4,051 and Atlanta with $3,938.

Remote work skyrocketed early in the pandemic and is still well above pre-pandemic norms

Following the pandemic work-from-home boom that saw most employees forced to avoid the office, the next two years saw a gradual push by companies to bring back-office life.

But hybrid and remote work has proven popular and persistent, and through the first month of 2023, 12.7% of all full-time workers remained fully remote.

The city that leads the way in terms of employees working from home is Washington DC, and WFH Research found that the nation’s capital saw a 37% reduction in face-to-face days in the office.

It was closely followed by Atlanta with 34.9%, Phoenix with 34.1% and Los Angeles with 32.9%.