• AT&T's CTO told his US team there wouldn't be "one-for-one" seating upon the full office return.
• He added that AT&T would stagger its five-day-a-week mandate as more office space was constructed.
• Some teams may see their full office return delayed if construction doesn't finish in time, he said.

AT&T Technology Services employees in the US won't have "one-for-one" seating when they begin returning to the office five days a week in the new year, the company's chief technology officer wrote in a new memo.

The telecom giant's CTO, Jeremy Legg, detailed how the new in-office policy would be implemented across his US team in a Wednesday memo obtained by Business Insider.

The new in-office requirement for US AT&T Technology Services employees will begin a phased rollout on January 6 and is expected to be fully implemented for most teams by March 3, the memo said.

"Our purpose at AT&T is connecting people to greater possibility," Legg wrote. "We firmly believe that working together, in person and in proximity to our peers, is the best way for ATS employees to fulfill that purpose."

Legg oversees AT&T's technology organizations for business, consumer, IT and cloud, data and analytics, security, network architecture and AT&T Labs, and new product development. The AT&T Technology Services team has roughly 10,000 workers in the US.

AT&T told BI that organizations within the company have the flexibility to determine the right approach for their teams based on business needs and that many were staggering the return of employees.

The memo came after BI first reported that AT&T was tightening its return-to-office mandate from three days a week to five full workdays.

Legg said in the email that the company understood that not every employee could be on-site every single day because of "travel, vacations, or other reasons" and that "leaders will work with employees to provide the needed occasional flexibility."

While several expansion projects are underway in Atlanta and Dallas, Legg said AT&T "will not offer one-for-one seating per employee" and the company "will observe capacity vs. demand and make adjustments" as needed.

Legg's memo said that teams assigned to AT&T's Atlanta-area locations would be notified if their full-return-to-office date was delayed as construction on additional space progressed.

Several employees have told BI that workspace capacity has been a challenge, even with the prior hybrid arrangement.

Employees told BI it's common for workers to end up sitting in the hallways or working in the cafeteria to avoid running afoul of the company's attendance-tracking system.

One employee said their office had more than 1,200 people assigned to it but only about 150 desks available.

"I know returning to the office 5 days a week is a significant change for some," Legg said in his memo. "By coming together in person, we can strengthen our connections, foster a vibrant culture, and achieve our shared goals."

Read the full memo

Dear ATS U.S.-Based Management Employees,

Our purpose at AT&T is connecting people to greater possibility. We firmly believe that working together, in person and in proximity to our peers, is the best way for ATS employees to fulfill that purpose. By fostering in-person interactions, we can form stronger relationships, build trust and enhance our collaboration, innovation, and overall effectiveness as a team.

Full-Time Office Presence in 2025

That's why l'm asking all employees with Full Time Office designations (NFTO, MFTO CFTO) to return to the office full time, with staggered starts based on management level and office space availability. FTO employees in ATS will work in the office full-time, 5 days a week according to this schedule:

• January 6, 2025: All U.S.-based supervising level 4s and above
• February 3, 2025: All U.S.-based supervising level 3s and above in all locations except Atlanta and Alpharetta¹
• March 3, 2025²: All other U.S.-based management employees in all locations except Atlanta and Alpharetta¹

¹Construction of additional space is underway at Lenox, with an expected readiness date between April and June. As construction progresses, employees in Atlanta and Alpharetta will be notified when it's time to work in the office 5 days a week.

²Construction of additional space for ATS teams is underway at Dallas Headquarters and at 2900 West Plano Pkwy. Employees in these locations will return to the office March 3 if the space is ready. If completion is delayed, we will communicate further instructions to affected teams.

As we stagger the return to 5 days per week per the timeline above, FTO employees should continue to be present in the office 3 to 5 days per week. There is no change in expectations for Future Office Workers or virtual workers. We periodically review the needs of the business and may occasionally change an employee's office designation based on those needs.

Fostering Collaboration

Between now and early first quarter 2025, we will be working with Global Workplace Services to align teams to neighborhoods on each of our campuses.

Even with employees working full time in the office, we know that not all employees will be in every day due to travel, vacations, or other reasons. We will not offer one-for-one seating per employee. We will observe capacity vs. demand and make adjustments working with Workplace Services as needed.

Flexibility and Accountability

We know employees occasionally need to work remotely for various reasons. Leaders will work with employees to provide the needed occasional flexibility. This balance between flexibility and accountability is essential to maintaining our high standards of performance and collaboration. Senior leadership will review overall presence trends via How and Where We Work presence dashboards. With this data, we will work toward improving things like seating, availability of amenities, and parking options.

Next Steps

The How and Where ATS Works SharePoint site is your definitive source of information on returning to the office full-time, including campus and neighborhood information as it becomes available. It is currently being updated to reflect the changing expectations for our organization. Supervisors can also answer questions. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved.

Additional Thoughts

I know returning to the office 5 days a week is a significant change for some. As we outlined during Analyst and Investor Day, we have tremendous momentum in growing this company the right way. That momentum will accelerate when we reap the benefits of faster collaboration and innovation. By coming together in person, we can strengthen our connections, foster a vibrant culture, and achieve our shared goals.

Your dedication and commitment to excellence are the driving forces behind our success.

Thank you for your continued hard work and support. I look forward to seeing you all in the office and working together to create an even brighter future for ATS.

Jeremy

If you are an AT&T worker who wants to share your perspective, please contact Dominick via email or text/call/Signal at 646-768-4750. Responses will be kept confidential, and Business Insider strongly recommends using a personal email and a nonwork device when reaching out.

• Grace Chang occasionally commutes from Washington, DC, to NYC for work.
• She said the four-hour commute is worth it because the job is a good fit for her.
• Remote working arrangements have made it easier for some Americans to become supercommuters.

Grace Chang says the occasional four-hour commute to her job is worth it but could be unsustainable in the long term.

Earlier this year, Chang, 28, felt burned out from her finance job at a hospitality company in Washington, DC. She began exploring new opportunities but struggled to find a role in DC that would allow her to grow and be less demanding.

After expanding her search outside the Beltway, Chang accepted a financial planning and analysis position, which she started in May. The role pays $120,000 annually, but it came with a downside: a commute roughly every other week from DC to New York City. Chang asked that the name of her employer be excluded for privacy reasons.

For her journey, Chang said she wakes up around 4 a.m. on Monday, catches the 5:05 a.m. Amtrak train at Union Station, arrives in New York City around 8:30 a.m., and is at her midtown Manhattan office 30 minutes later. She usually stays in New York until Wednesday or Thursday, and since her company doesn't pay for lodging, she crashes with friends or family who live in or near the city.

"I'm not 100% sure if the job is worth the commute, but it pays the bills and is a good stepping stone for other opportunities in the future," she said.

Chang is among the supercommuters who have embraced long treks to work in recent years: A Stanford University study published in June defined a supercommuter as anyone with a journey of more than 75 miles. The study, which was conducted by Stanford economists Nick Bloom and Alex Finan, found that the share of supercommutes in the 10 largest US cities was 32% higher between November 2023 and February than between the same time period four years earlier.

The economists said this uptick was likely tied to increased remote working arrangements. For example, some Americans who moved away from cities during the pandemic — in part for lower housing costs — decided they could tolerate their commute when their employers called them back to the office.

Supercommuting isn't the long-term goal

Chang said her employer doesn't have a specific in-office policy, but her manager wants her to work in person sometimes, particularly during busier periods.

When Chang landed the job, she never seriously considered moving to New York City. She and her husband have lived in the DC area for over a decade, and her husband works locally.

"We have friends and community here and didn't want to uproot so quickly," she said. "After I started making the commute, I just got used to it."

Staying with friends and family has helped Chang save money on accommodations while she's in New York, but her commute still comes with a financial cost. If she buys well in advance of her trip, she said she can generally get a one-way train ticket for less than $100. She said Amtrak offers a 10-ride ticket pass for $790, which amounts to $79 per one-way ticket.

However, Chang said her role would likely have a lower salary if it were based in DC, in part because the city has a lower cost of living than NYC.

In recent weeks, Chang's manager said she could reduce her commute to once a month. She said she'd previously requested a less frequent commute once she was fully trained for her job: She's been in the role for over six months.

While Chang is open to jobs closer to home, she said she's enjoying her current role and is getting the career development she wanted.

"It's definitely not a long-term goal or aspiration to continue to do this, but what has made this doable is having a positive mentality toward commuting," she said. "If I dreaded it every week, I would have quit in the first month."

Do you have a long commute to work? Are you willing to share your story with a reporter? Reach out to [email protected].

• Staff at major companies have asked their leaders if there are plans to follow Amazon's full return to office.
• Firms like Meta, Google, and Microsoft have a hybrid setup — however, execs say they're eyeing productivity.
• Research findings on the subject are varied, and the debate will likely continue in 2025.

Executives at major companies are referencing a specific term to hedge when asked by employees if they plan to follow in Amazon's footsteps and implement a return to 5 days a week in the office.

That word? Productivity.

While Amazon has been the most high-profile example this year of a full return to office policy, set to go into effect in January, telecom giant AT&T has also elected to double down on in-person work with a similar 5-day policy, Business Insider first reported.

In the wake of Amazon's announcement, executives at both Google and Microsoft, which require employees to be in the office at least 3 days a week, have fielded questions from staff wondering if the days of hybrid work are numbered.

Microsoft's executive vice president of cloud and AI, Scott Guthrie, said the company wouldn't change the hybrid work policy unless it noticed a drop in productivity, BI reported in September.

In October, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company had no plans to order employees back to the office, so long as employees remain productive during their at-home work days, BI previously reported.

Over at Meta, Mark Zuckerberg said last year that "early analysis of performance data," indicated productivity increases for early-career engineers in the office at least 3 days a week. A few months later, the company announced it was requiring employees to return to the office 3 days a week.

Executives at Dell called the company's sales team back to the office 5 days a week starting at the end of September, writing in a memo, "Our data shows that sales teams are more productive when onsite."

Though Amazon did not explicitly name productivity as a reason for its full return to the office, CEO Andy Jassy emphasized a similar term: effectiveness.

Being back in person 5 days a week makes it "easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing are simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from one another are more seamless; and, teams tend to be better connected to one another," he wrote at the time.

For those committing to a full return to office, preparing campuses for the influx of employees in the new year is its own challenge. Amazon has since delayed the announced January 2 effective date of the new mandate for some employees because it doesn't have enough office space in some locations, BI reported earlier this month.

As CEOs and company leaders keep an eye on how employees in remote or hybrid setups perform, various studies since the onset of the pandemic have attempted to measure and compare the productivity of employees who work at home and in-office. Research studies have produced conflicting results, further complicated by the matter of how best to define or measure productivity.

Goldman Sachs, which has a 5-day-in-office policy, reviewed several analyses that used different ways of evaluating changes in work-from-home productivity, from call-center workers who were randomly chosen to work from home to comparing the productivity of randomly assigned remote workers with their in-office peers.

In short, it's hard to say for sure, and executives are deciding what their long-term setup will be after a year in which some of the world's biggest companies put a renewed focus on being "lean" and "efficient."

Meanwhile, some employees have returned to commuting in (sometimes "coffee-badging" in and returning home), others have relocated to comply with a policy change, and some have resigned to pursue a hybrid or fully remote opportunity. As companies tighten their belts and conduct layoffs, other workers have taken to workplace forums to wonder if some of the RTO mandates have been a possible "quiet layoffs" tactic.

As more major global companies revisit their policies and make changes, CEOs are likely to face more questions on the topic going into the new year.

For some, the answer is simple: Stay productive and we'll stay flexible.

Amazon announced in September that it will require workers to be in the office five days a week starting in January. Employee backlash ensued, not just because return-to-office (RTO) mandates can be unpopular but also because Amazon is using some of the worst strategies for issuing RTO mandates.

Ahead of the mandate, Amazon had been letting many employees work remotely for two days a week, with a smaller number of workers being totally remote. But despite saying that employees would have to commute five days per week, the conglomerate doesn’t have enough office space to accommodate over 350,000 employees. Personnel in “at least seven cities,” including Phoenix and Austin, Texas, have had their RTO dates delayed until after January, Bloomberg reported today, citing “people familiar with the situation." Employees in Dallas won’t have enough space until March or April, and an office in New York City won’t have sufficient space until May, per Bloomberg's sources.

RTO dates are also delayed in Atlanta, Houston, and Nashville, Tennessee, Business Insider reported this week, citing “internal Amazon notifications.”

Read full article

Comments

Return-to-office (RTO) mandates have caused companies to lose some of their best workers, a study tracking over 3 million workers at 54 "high-tech and financial" firms at the S&P 500 index has found. These companies also have greater challenges finding new talent, the report concluded.

The paper, Return-to-Office Mandates and Brain Drain [PDF], comes from researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as Baylor University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. The study, which was published in November, spotted this month by human resources publication HR Dive, and cites Ars Technica reporting, was conducted by collecting information on RTO announcements and sourcing data from LinkedIn. The researchers said they only examined companies with data available for at least two quarters before and after they issued RTO mandates. The researchers explained:

To collect employee turnover data, we follow prior literature ... and obtain the employment history information of over 3 million employees of the 54 RTO firms from Revelio Labs, a leading data provider that extracts information from employee LinkedIn profiles. We manually identify employees who left a firm during each period, then calculate the firm’s turnover rate by dividing the number of departing employees by the total employee headcount at the beginning of the period. We also obtain information about employees’ gender, seniority, and the number of skills listed on their individual LinkedIn profiles, which serves as a proxy for employees’ skill level.

There are limits to the study, however. The researchers noted that the study "cannot draw causal inferences based on our setting." Further, smaller firms and firms outside of the high-tech and financial industries may show different results. Although not mentioned in the report, relying on data from a social media platform could also yield inaccuracies, and the number of skills listed on a LinkedIn profile may not accurately depict a worker's skill level.

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• Amazon is delaying full RTO for some employees due to office capacity issues.
• The policy required employees to work from the office five days a week, beginning January 2.
• Amazon has encountered workspace capacity issues in the past.

Amazon is delaying the start of its strict new RTO policy for some employees because the company doesn't have enough office space in certain locations, Business Insider has learned.

The company's real estate team recently started notifying employees that they can continue following their current in-office guidance until workspaces are ready with delays stretching to as late as May, according internal Amazon notifications viewed by BI.

Impacted locations include Atlanta, Houston, Nashville, and New York, the notifications showed. An Amazon spokesperson said buildings will be ready for the majority of Amazon employees by January 2.

Earlier this year, Amazon ordered employees to start working from the office five days a week. beginning January 2. The company has said this will improve collaboration and bring other benefits. CEO Andy Jassy, in a memo announcing the mandate, said Amazon the decision to "further strengthen" its culture and teams.

Some staff were upset by the change and have argued that remote work provides more flexibility. The policy five-day-a-week policy is stricter than at some Amazon rivals and, by some accounts, stricter than Amazon's office-work policy before the pandemic.

This isn't the first time office capacity constraints have delayed Amazon's RTO plans. When the company last year ordered employees to start working in the office at least three days a week, many of its buildings weren't ready to accommodate all of those employees.

In internal guidelines viewed by BI, Amazon told employees when the new five-day RTO policy was first announced in September that they should plan to comply by January 2 whether or not they have assigned workspaces.

"For the vast majority of employees, assigned workspaces will be available by January 2, 2025," the guidance stated. "If your assigned workspace isn't ready by January 2, we still expect everyone to begin fully working from the office by that date."

Are you a tech-industry employee or someone else with insight to share?

Contact reporter Ashley Stewart via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email ([email protected]). Use a nonwork device.

The United States Postal Service unveiled a plan to buy a fleet of all-electric mail trucks for its mail carriers back in 2022, of which 3,000 were supposed to be delivered by now. Unfortunately, those plans aren’t even close to fruition. The Washington Post reported that defense contractor Oshkosh has only delivered 93 vehicles so far.

In 2022, The Postal Service announced its plan to buy at least 60,000 “Next Generation Delivery Vehicles” (NGDV) for its mail carriers by 2028 and start replacing its aging fleet of trucks. The Postal Service’s initial order called for 5,000 all-electric vehicles along with new, gas-powered vehicles, but calls from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Biden Administration pushed them to increase the share of NGDVs that would run on electricity.

The Washington Post obtained nearly 21,000 government and internal company records and spoke with 20 people familiar with the trucks’ manufacturing and design process. Its reporting shows that Oshkosh ran into significant manufacturing delays of the electric NGDVs that caused lower than expected delivery numbers. Some of the anonymous sources said that engineers struggled to calibrate the mail trucks’ airbags, and the vehicles’ body and internal components are unable to contain water leaks to an alarming degree.

The turnaround time for building these new mail trucks is also very slow. The Post reports that the South Carolina factory can only build one truck per day even though Oshkosh hoped it could build at least 80 vehicles a day by now.

Oshkosh also failed to inform the Postal Service about these delays. Four of the background sources say a senior company executive tried to update the Postal Service about these manufacturing issues only to have those efforts blocked by their corporate superiors.

An Oshkosh spokesperson said in a statement that the defense contractor is still “fully committed to being a strong and reliable partner” with the Postal Services and insists “we remain on track to meet all delivery deadlines,” according to The Post.

The failure of these plans doesn’t just affect the Postal Service’s ability to modernize and update its fleet of aging mail trucks. It could also throw a wrench into President Biden’s plans to combat climate change. Reuters reported on Friday that President Donald Trump’s transition team is considering cancelling the electric mail truck program altogether.

• Disney's "Moana 2" broke Thanksgiving box office records, bringing in $380 million globally.
• In previous years, Disney struggled at the Thanksgiving weekend box office with "Wish" and "Strange World."
• Originally created as a series, "Moana 2" was shifted to a film, boosting Disney's theatrical strategy.

First, Disney proved it was still king of the summer movie season with the enormous success of "Deadpool & Wolverine." Now, the studio has also reclaimed its hold on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with "Moana 2."

The sequel to the beloved 2016 animated movie brought in over $380 million worldwide in its first five days in theaters, which included over $220 million domestically. The latter is a new five-day Thanksgiving box office record, surpassing the $125 million "Frozen 2" earned in 2019.

The success of "Moana 2" was much needed for Disney, and for its animation division in particular, as the past few Thanksgivings have not been so bountiful.

For roughly the last decade, the Disney titles released over Thanksgiving were usually guaranteed box office coin, with animated fare like "Coco" (2017) and both "Frozen" movies (2013, 2019) notching major wins for the studio. But 2022 and 2023, the post-COVID years when audiences began returning to theaters, were a bust: "Strange World" and "Wish" took in $19 million and $32 million respectively on their five-day Thanksgiving opening weekends in 2022 and 2023.

In 2024, Disney is faring better. The over $1 billion take "Inside Out 2" made in June proved that audiences were out of the COVID-era haze of waiting to see Disney animated titles at home, especially Pixar movies. The success of "Moana 2" confirms that families want to see their animation on the big screen.

And it was Disney's fast thinking at the eleventh hour that kept the momentum going.

"Even the Disney brass were apparently unaware how beloved this property was as it was very close to going straight to streaming," Exhibitor Relations senior analyst Jeff Bock told Business Insider.

That's right. The "Moana" sequel was originally developed as a series for Disney+.

"Moana: The Series" was announced at the Disney Investor Day in 2020, with the plan being to delve deeper into the characters and mythology in the "Moana" franchise. But in February 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced the change from series to sequel, stating on an earnings call that Disney executives were "impressed" by early footage and felt it "deserved a theatrical release."

Looking back on the sequel's journey to the screen, codirector David Derrick Jr. said that starting with the larger scope a TV series provides ultimately strengthened the story when it was adapted into a feature.

"What the series gave us was an opportunity to get to know these characters intimately, the way you can with a series, but what we were doing in the story just begged for a bigger and bigger screen," he told Collider.

"So, as soon as we funneled all of the learnings from our new characters through Moana's journey, it actually just strengthened Moana's growth and the theme of the story. So, there wasn't, for me, anything left out from the series. We were able to learn things from the series that just supercharged the feature."

Pivoting from series to feature was also a savvy business decision. After the COVID box-office slump, many studios realized that movies released exclusively in theaters didn't just bring more profitability in the initial release, but also fueled secondary windows like streaming.

Perhaps Disney brass realized in the four years from announcing the series to changing it to a feature-length film that despite the slumping box office, rededicating itself to a "Moana" theatrical release would generate more profit than it would if it were a streaming release alone.

Even after "Moana 2" eventually hits streaming, there will be more "Moana" coming. The live-action version of the movie, which stars Dwayne Johnson in the flesh as Maui, is coming in summer 2026.

But should Disney be scared of "Moana" burnout?

"I doubt it," Bock said. "'Moana' is officially the hottest IP in Disney's vast kingdom. 2026 is the perfect spacing."

• Business Insider asked an etiquette expert for advice on attending a company holiday party.
• She said employees shouldn't drink too much or feel pressured to consume alcohol because others are.
• She recommends using this time to meet new people and form deeper connections with colleagues.

Many companies have started requiring workers to return to the office — which also means having to attend corporate events again. However, striking a balance between having fun and remaining professional can be difficult.

As a result, etiquette mistakes are common at company holiday parties. To cover the biggest dos and don'ts, Business Insider asked Diane Gottsman, a professional etiquette expert, to share the key mistakes to watch out for when attending these gatherings.

Here's what she said.

Even if you'd rather be somewhere else, you shouldn't skip out on the holiday party

Although you might prefer to spend your time elsewhere, Gottsman explained that attending these events is an extension of your professional brand.

"I call it mandatory festivities or mandatory fun because it shows that you are engaged with your company. It's telling your boss that you care about your position in the firm — you're a team player," she said.

Be mindful of how much you're drinking

Gottsman said another thing to watch out for is how much you drink, even if everyone else — including your boss — is indulging.

"This isn't the time to get drunk and lose your credibility, because you still have to go to work on Monday," she told BI.

Holiday parties are still considered company time, so you should always remain aware of your professional reputation.

Don't feel pressured to drink

On the other hand, don't feel compelled to drink if you don't want to.

"If you don't drink for whatever reason, you don't have to give an excuse or a reason," Gottsman explained.

If you're more comfortable sticking with a seltzer or soda, you should do that.

Remember to send in your RSVP on time

If there's an RSVP on the invitation, it means the host is counting heads to ensure there's enough food, drinks, and place settings for each guest, Gottsman told BI. That's why it's important to respond in a timely manner.

She also said that once you RSVP, you've made a commitment that you shouldn't back out on.

Don't be the first to leave — or overstay your welcome

It's best not to rush out the door at a corporate holiday party.

Gottsman told BI that leaving too early can make it look like you're eager to get out, which doesn't leave a great impression.

"If you get there and you leave 20 minutes later, people are going to notice," she said.

However, Gottsman also said you shouldn't overstay your welcome. For instance, she told BI that if the event ends at 9 o'clock, you've stayed too long if you're still there at 9:30 or 9:45.

If you'd like to continue interacting with your coworkers, she recommends leaving at the appropriate time and taking the party somewhere else.

Be sure to mix and mingle

When attending a holiday party, use the opportunity to build on existing relationships and meet new people, such as clients, vendors, or others in the company you don't know well.

"You shouldn't be sitting," Gottsman told BI. "You should be mixing and mingling unless you're eating. But if you are seated and someone walks up to you, you always want to stand for an introduction."

Additionally, if the event has name tags, make sure to grab one.

"Name tags are memory tools. They go on the right side of your shoulder to follow the line of sight of a handshake," Gottsman added.

• Disney's "Moana 2" set a new five-day Thanksgiving box office record with $221 million in sales.
• The previous record was held by "Frozen II," which brought $125 million in 2019.
• "Moana 2," "Wicked," and "Gladiator II" contributed to the $420 million in box office sales over Thanksgiving.

"Moana 2" made a big splash at the box office over Thanksgiving weekend.

The highly anticipated sequel to the 2016 Disney film has brought in $221 million in domestic ticket sales since opening on Wednesday — the first day of the five-day Thanksgiving weekend — based on studio estimates.

The film broke the five-day Thanksgiving box office record, surpassing the $125 million record set by "Frozen II" in 2019. Before that, the title was held by "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," which brought in $109.9 million in 2013.

The Thanksgiving box office weekend has also seen the continued success of "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" — both of which were released on November 22.

Like "Barbenheimer," fans have dubbed the movies "Glicked" thanks to their coincidental release date.

During the five-day Thanksgiving period, "Wicked" — which stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo — brought in $117.5 million domestically, while "Gladiator II" — which stars Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, and Pedro Pascal — earned $44 million, based on estimates from IMDB's Box Office Mojo.

The three films contributed to the $420 million raked in over the five-day period — the best-ever Thanksgiving box office sales, surpassing the $315.6 million record set over the same period in 2018, according to Comscore data, per NBC.

Based on studio estimates, "Moana 2" has made $386 million globally so far.

In 2016, "Moana" also topped box offices on Thanksgiving weekend with $81 million in ticket sales.

It was released on Disney+ in 2019 and was the most-watched movie on a streaming platform in the US in 2023, with over 11.3 billion minutes streamed, per data from Nielsen.

A representative from Comscore did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.

• These movies had huge budgets that producers expected would turn in huge profits when released.
• However, the films lost millions of dollars for studios after hitting theaters.
• The first "Joker" movie grossed over a billion dollars. Its sequel made just over $200 million.

When "Joker" was released in 2019, it grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing R-rated movie at the time, and its star, Joaquin Phoenix, won an Academy Award.

Greenlighting a sequel was a no-brainer.

However, "Joker: Folie à Deux," which was released in October, made just a fifth of what its predecessor earned at the box office, joining a long list of films that — surprisingly — nobody wanted to see.

Though producers, directors, and cast members likely assumed the films on this list would be box-office smashes, many ended up losing tens of millions of dollars. Some lost hundreds of millions.

Take a look at the films that were surprise box-office bombs.

Zoë Ettinger contributed to an earlier version of this story.

"Joker: Folie à Deux" was a failure for Warner Bros this year.

No matter how controversial the first "Joker" film was, it was a financial success — it was the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever (until this year's "Deadpool & Wolverine") and made over $1 billion worldwide.

If you had told anyone in 2019 that the sequel to "Joker" would barely cross the $200 million threshold, they would not have believed you.

According to estimates by Variety, the film could lose its studio anywhere from $125 to $200 million.

To make matters worse, it also earned the rare "D" on CinemaScore, meaning that nobody saw it, and the people who did hated it.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe had its first real bomb on its hands with 2023's "The Marvels."

The MCU is the most successful film franchise of all time, raking in billions of dollars for Disney. But the cracks started to show with "The Marvels," which had the lowest opening of any MCU movie at just $65 million.

Forbes reported the film lost a staggering $237 million, even though it wasn't actually as bad as some people on the internet would have you believe.

The 2001 Muhammad Ali biopic "Ali" starred A-lister Will Smith as the iconic boxer, but the film lost Sony millions of dollars.

The biographical film about the life of boxer Muhammad Ali had a $107 million production cost that was raised to $118 million after director Michael Mann moved filming to Africa, according to Bomb Report.

Box Office Mojo estimates the film made just $87.8 million worldwide. Sony was reportedly on the hook for over $100 million when including marketing costs.

In 2003, Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones starred in the animated film "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas," but not even they could prevent the movie from losing $125 million at the box office.

DreamWorks co-founder David Geffen has publicly stated the film, centering around a legendary sailor framed for stealing a sacred book, lost the studio $125 million, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Based on the famous Macedonian king, the 2004 film "Alexander" starred Colin Farrell and Angelina Jolie at the peak of their powers, but it lost about $71 million.

The film, about the life of Alexander the Great, had a reported budget of $155 million. According to Bomb Report, the film's gross sank 65.2% in its second weekend and another 68.9% in week three. Overall, production company Intermedia posted a $29.4 million loss for the year.

The 2004 film "Around the World in 80 Days" starred Jackie Chan straight from two successful "Rush Hour" films, but his popularity couldn't save the movie.

Based on the beloved adventure novel by Jules Verne about traveling the world in 80 days, the film had an estimated budget of $110 million, but only made $72 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

The film is most notable now, perhaps, for being the last acting role of Arnold Schwarzenegger before he became the governor of California.

In 2005, A-listers Jamie Foxx, Josh Lucas, and Jessica Biel starred in "Stealth" — it was a notorious flop.

The film is about three top Navy fighter pilots tasked with manning a drone-like plane. It had a budget of $138 million and was directed by "The Fast and Furious" director Rob Cohen — so everyone had high expectations.

However, it lost at least $56 million due to box-office deficits, and likely even more after taking out movie theaters' cuts and marketing costs, according to Box Office Mojo.

"Sahara" starred Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz, but it lost an estimated $78 million at the box office in 2005.

The film follows a treasure hunter as he travels to Africa in search of a long-lost ship. It had a reported production cost of $160 million. The Los Angeles Times reported it lost the studio $78 million, and called it "one of the biggest financial flops in Hollywood history."

In 2006, Kurt Russell starred in "Poseidon," which lost an estimated $69 million.

"Poseidon" is a remake of the original beloved film, 1972's "The Poseidon Adventure." The disaster movie about a sinking cruise ship had a budget of $160 million. After everything, it lost the studio $69 million, Business Insider previously reported.

"Evan Almighty," the 2007 spin-off of the mega-hit "Bruce Almighty," lost an estimated $50 million.

The film centered around the biblical tale of Noah's ark, and it starred Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman. It had an estimated budget of $175 million and even became the most expensive comedy of all time, according to Reuters.

But, according to Bomb Report, the film lost one of its backers $50 million.

Martin Scorsese's 2011 film "Hugo" lost an estimated $80 million at the box office.

The film about a young orphan living in a train station starred young actors Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace Moretz. It ended up going $80 million over budget, according to Bomb Report, and lost the studio $80 million — proving that not every Scorsese film is a box-office hit.

"Green Lantern" co-starred Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, both beloved stars, but it had an estimated $75 million box-office loss in 2011.

The superhero film about a test pilot who gets a powerful alien ring had an estimated budget of $200 million, but it barely broke even at the box office. Overall, the studio took a $75 million loss, according to Bomb Report.

At the time, superhero films were in the middle of a renaissance after movies like "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight" had proven that comic-book movies had mass appeal. But, "Green Lantern's" failure shows that a built-in fan base doesn't always lead to success.

"Pan," the 2015 reimagining of "Peter Pan," starred box office draw Hugh Jackman, but it ended up losing the studio up to $150 million.

"Pan" had an estimated budget of $150 million, but its offensive casting of Rooney Mara as the Native American character Tiger Lily, its heavy reliance on CGI, and general disinterest in another "Peter Pan" film led the movie to box-office bomb status, The New York Times reported.

 The Hollywood Reporter predicted that the film "could see losses in the $130 million to $150 million range" back in 2015.

The 2016 sequel "Alice Through the Looking Glass" which starred Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway, lost an estimated $70 million.

A sequel to the 2010 Tim Burton film "Alice in Wonderland," "Alice Through the Looking Glass" had an estimated budget of $170 million and ended up costing Disney an estimated $70 million — especially shocking, considering that the first film topped $1 billion.

Steven Spielberg's 2016 adaptation of "The BFG," based on Roald Dahl's book of the same name, was estimated to have lost at least $90 million.

The film follows the Big Friendly Giant as he befriends a young orphan Sophie, even though it goes against giant nature. It had an estimated budget of $140 million, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, "lost $90 million to $100 million for partners Disney, Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Participant Media."

It's one of the acclaimed director's biggest flops.

The 2017 film "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" is based on one of the most famous tales of all time, but it ended up losing an estimated $150 million.

The film follows a young Arthur after the murder of his father and his quest to gain back the throne of Camelot. It had an estimated budget of $175 million and only grossed $148 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Forbes blamed the lack of movie stars, extensive re-shoots, and an inflated budget, among other things, for the film's reported $150 million loss.

"Justice League" had a star-studded cast and an unreal amount of hype, but it lost Warner Bros. somewhere between $50 and $100 million in 2017.

DC's answer to Marvel's "Avengers" superhero team-up movie had an estimated budget of $300 million. Business Insider reported that the film could have cost Warner Bros. up to $100 million.

The 2018 fantasy would-be epic "A Wrinkle in Time" was based on a hit novel produced by Disney and starred Oprah, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling — but it still flopped.

The mind-bending story of young Meg's journey across time and space to rescue her father from darkness had a reported budget of $103 million, and Yahoo Finance reported that Disney lost between $86 million and $186 million on the film.

Though "Star Wars" films are usually a hit, 2018's "Solo: A Star Wars Story" reportedly lost an estimated $76 million.

The film follows a young Han Solo (played by Alden Ehrenreich), the most iconic space smuggler of all time, as he meets his future partner and best friend Chewbacca, future frenemy Lando Calrissian, and a heretofore unknown love interest Qi'ra.

It had an estimated budget of $275 million. Though the film made over $392 million worldwide, that's nothing when you compare it to the $2 billion gross of "The Force Awakens," and the $1 billion grosses of "The Last Jedi" and "The Rise of Skywalker."

Based on the hit musical, the 2019 adaptation of "Cats" was a box office flop, losing between $71 and $113 million.

The CGI-heavy movie about a tribe of cats called the Jellicles had an estimated budget of $95 million and a famously cursed production. Though "Cats" is a beloved musical and ran on Broadway for years, audiences didn't show the film version the same love. Deadline calculated losses at approximately $113.6 million.

"Dolittle" was supposed to be Robert Downey Jr.'s follow-up to "Avengers," but it was the first big flop of 2020.

The film about a doctor who can talk to animals had an estimated budget of $175 million and an all-star voice cast including Tom Holland, Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, Octavia Spencer, and more. That didn't stop Vulture from calling it "2020's first official mega-flop."

The Observer estimated that "Dolittle" needed to make $500 million to turn a profit and with a final gross of just half that, you can be sure that no one at Universal was pleased with those results.

• Remote workers are slightly more likely to have side gigs than in-person or hybrid peers.
• Extra time from remote work may enable more side hustles like consulting or rideshare.
• Some data shows employees who choose where to work are more productive.

Remote workers are more likely to have side gigs than their office-based peers — 34% versus 29% — according to a new LinkedIn Workforce Confidence survey of 8,606 US professionals.

The trend toward additional income streams appears strongest among those with flexible work arrangements. While only a quarter of full-time employees reported having a side gig, the number jumps to 52% for freelancers and 46% for both contractors and self-employed workers.

Side gigs include working as consultants, rideshare drivers, and rental property managers.

Remote workers' higher participation in side hustles could stem from increased time savings from not commuting. GPS data from traffic analytics company INRIX shows supercommuting — or traveling over 75 miles to work — has been on the rise over the last few years. The same trend applies to commutes over 40 miles for the country's 10 largest cities.

The higher rate of side gigs among remote workers, though small, could also stem from some evidence that productivity slows when workers are pushed to return to the office.

LinkedIn cited a May 2024 Great Place to Work survey of 4,400 US employees, which found that workers who could choose where they work were more likely to exceed expectations and have better relationships with their bosses.

However, the data is complicated, as various remote work studies have different conclusions. Stanford economists found 10% lower productivity for fully remote work compared to fully in-person work. Meanwhile, a separate Stanford report found that hybrid work had no effect on productivity or career advancement compared to in-person work.

Dozens of employees with side hustles, particularly those in remote roles, have told Business Insider about their strategies for maximizing their income. Some particularly successful side hustlers said content creation and selling on Etsy were simple ways to grow their income while working full-time.

Some remote workers told BI they drive for Uber or DoorDash while working as accountants or analysts. Dozens of drivers have told BI over the last year that falling earnings and growing competition have made it challenging to make enough, though many value the flexibility to drive during lunch breaks or before or after their full-time jobs.

Both remote and in-person workers previously told BI that real-estate side hustles have been particularly fruitful. Jesse Singh, 29, worked two nursing roles, which he used to fund his real estate company. Once he sold a $2.2 million property, he cut his nursing hours.

Some said they quit their in-person corporate roles for full-time remote positions, which allowed them to better craft their schedules and add in other income streams. Some turned their remote reselling side hustles on sites like eBay into full-time positions.

Natalie Fischer left her corporate job in 2023 to grow her business as a finance content creator and is now bringing in over $150,000 in revenue in 2024. She's diversified her revenue through user-generated content and money workshops, and she's looking to secure speaking engagements.

BI has also reported on dozens of "overemployed" remote workers who secretly work multiple jobs to earn six-figure incomes. Many said they don't feel guilt for working multiple remote positions, even as remote roles become scarcer and harder to get.

Patrick, a millennial in California, previously told BI that because his remote account manager role didn't give him enough work for an eight-hour workday, he took on an additional full-time role and freelance work, bringing his income to nearly $200,000.

• 'Wicked,' 'Gladiator II,' and 'Moana 2' are all in theaters this Thanksgiving weekend.
• The three films may bring in more box office sales than pre-pandemic Thanksgiving weekends.
• 'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' hit theaters on November 22, and "Moana 2" premiered on November 27.

This Thanksgiving box office line-up will be the most successful of the post-pandemic era — and could be one of the most successful in history.

It started on November 22, when "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" premiered in theaters.

"Wicked," directed by Jon M. Chu, is based on one of Broadway's longest-running shows. Fans have been anticipating the film adaptation since the musical first hit the stage in 2003.

"Gladiator II" is a sequel to the original film, released in 2000.

The films topped the box office opening weekend. "Gladiator II" made $106 million in ticket sales, while "Wicked" brought in $164 million. "Wicked" also had a higher opening weekend than any other other film based on a Broadway show.

"Moana 2," the sequel to the 2016 Disney film, hit theaters on November 27 — day one of the five-day Thanksgiving weekend. It's projected to bring in between $135 and $145 million, per Variety.

In 2016, "Moana" topped box offices on Thanksgiving weekend with $81 million in ticket sales.

"The trifecta of 'Moana 2,' 'Wicked,' and 'Gladiator II' is a bona fide perfect storm for movie theaters this Thanksgiving," Fandango analytics director and Box Office Theory founder Shawn Robbins told CNBC. He predicted 2024 Thanksgiving weekend box office sales would surpass the $200 million made in 2019 — and be among the most lucrative in the history of cinema.

"The holiday used to regularly see major releases combining for all-audience appeal, but that's been a challenge for the industry to replicate in the post-pandemic era so far," he told CNBC. "This year is much different with such a holy trinity of tentpole releases that could anchor some of the biggest all-around box office results the holiday frame has ever seen."

• Many parents struggle with putting their smartphones down and paying full attention to their kids.
• Glassdoor CEO Christian Sutherland-Wong told CNBC that he stays offline around his children.
• He only works in his home office, going in there for emergency calls or after his kids go to bed.

Teens aren't the only ones who are heavily enticed by smartphones; plenty of parents struggle to put their devices down, too.

A 2024 Pew Research Center report found that 46% of teens said their parents are "at least sometimes distracted by their phone" when they try to talk to them.

That's why Glassdoor CEO Christian Sutherland-Wong has a simple rule at home: he doesn't answer texts or emails in front of his kids.

"I want to lead by not having digital products all around," Sutherland-Wong, 44, said in a CNBC interview. He said he doesn't want to be "distracted by my email and text messages all the time" and gives his kids his undivided attention.

He stays offline when he's around his kids

Smartphones aren't just magnetizing because of work emails and apps like Slack; parents often use phones for everything from scheduling playdates to managing extracurriculars.

To reduce his chances of getting sucked into his phone, Sutherland-Wong gets fully offline when he spends time with his kids. He works remotely from his home office, which makes it easier to pick up on work once the kids are asleep.

Otherwise, he makes it a point "to be there when my kids come home from school, to be able to get offline, spend quality time with them, put them to bed, and then get back online."

He models clear boundaries around work

Not all work emergencies happen between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. To create "space" between his role as a father and as a CEO, Sutherland-Wong returns to his home office when an urgent work task arises.

He feels his kids "pick up on" how he takes work calls. Privately firing off emails not only helps him maintain a work-life balance as a father but also models healthier habits around technology for his kids.

• A woman's creative out-of-office emails sparked debate on professionalism and workplace norms.
• Experts say OOO emails should reflect a company's culture.
• Legal and social issues can arise if OOOs don't align with employer expectations.

The backlash to a woman's creative out-of-office emails has caught the attention of TikTok and ignited a debate over how much personality to bring to work.

Thara Moise, better known as Chef Moise, is a TikTok creator and private chef who also works a regular 9-5 as a catering and sales manager.

In a recent TikTok, which amassed more than a million views, she said she had received the "same talking to" from her boss at her day job multiple times due to her "super cute" out-of-office emails.

The emails would include stories she'd made up, historical facts, or wellness tips.

"Tell me why I had another conversation with this man today about how unprofessional that is," Moise said, adding that she felt like her personality was being "smothered by corporate America."

"Am I wrong?" she asked.

Being creative can work

Some saw her creative automated emails as unprofessional, while others thought it was a sign that her workplace was stifling and restrictive.

"Imagine you sent an urgent email to someone and their automated response was a story instead of letting you know who to contact while they're out," read one comment, which received 21,000 likes.

Workplace analysts are also divided on the issue, saying it may all depend on the specifics of your office and the people in it.

Carla Bevins, an associate teaching professor of business management communication at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh, told Business Insider that OOO emails are an extension of workplace communication.

"While injecting personality can make them memorable, it's important to balance creativity with professionalism," she said.

However, Rich Mehta, the founder of the digital marketing agency Rigorous Digital, said that adding some personality into an OOO email could be beneficial in the right workplace setting.

"From the sendee's perspective, getting an OOO isn't usually a nice experience," he said. "Surprising someone with what can otherwise be a bit of a rubbish experience introduces dissonance, which usually means you'll be remembered."

Issues can arise

In more traditional workplaces, legal issues might arise.

Jo Mackie, a partner and employment law specialist at the law firm Burlingtons, told BI that inappropriate, offensive, or rude messages should never be tolerated, "but that begs the question of who decides what is and is not appropriate."

Raising the conversation three times shows that Moise should take notice, Mackie added, as failing to "follow a wilful management instruction" in employment law can potentially lead to disciplinary action, she said.

"If this continues, there is also scope for an employer to claim there has been a breakdown in trust and confidence between the employer and employee," she said. "And that is grounds for a breach of contract claim and may lead to dismissal."

Reading the room

Joelle Moray, a psychotherapist, workplace dynamics consultant, and the author of "What Are We Doing?! Radical Self-Care for the Hustle Culture," said that Moise's story is an example of the need to "get it right" rather than "being right."

Moray advises that individuals start by reading the room and deciding whether their workplace is more conservative or relaxed.

Then, they should take some time to consider who will read the email and why they want to add a casual tone or anecdote.

"Are you adding a wellness tip because you're the wellness committee chairperson?" she said. "Are you adding a historical factoid because you think they would be interested, or are you adding this so that you appear interesting?"

Moise told BI that she had found the response to her video funny for the most part, though some had veered into bullying or calling for her to be fired, which was "unnecessary," she said.

"Most people expressing negative thoughts are projecting their insecurities about being different or odd," she said. "I am incredibly accomplished on my own and have always navigated the workforce with ease."

Moise's workplace did not respond to a request for comment.

• "Wicked" triumphed over "Gladiator II" in box offices this weekend after its international debut.
• It grossed $164 million, the biggest opening weekend for a film based on a Broadway show.
• Here's all the records "Wicked" broke and how it compares to other blockbuster musicals.

"Wicked" broke three records topping the box office this weekend with $164 million in ticket sales and surpassing its blockbuster rival "Gladiator II."

"Wicked" broke the record for the biggest opening weekend for a film based on a Broadway adaptation domestically and globally. It trumped the previous record-holders "Les Misérables" and "Into the Woods."

The new movie musical also has the best opening for a non-sequel film this year. "Wicked" was the third biggest domestic debut in 2024 coming in behind the two highest-grossing films this year: "Deadpool & Wolverine" and "Inside Out 2."

"Gladiator II," pitted against "Wicked" because they share the same US release date, came second in box office charts this weekend, making $106 million in ticket sales.

If "Wicked" continues to succeed, it could become the only non-sequel film in the top 12 highest-grossing films list of 2024.

The Broadway adaptation's success has established the movie in Hollywood annals. Here's how it compares to cinema's biggest blockbuster musicals.

'Wicked' will need to make over a billion dollars to compete with the biggest movie musical

"Les Misérables," the highest-grossing film based on a Broadway adaptation, grossed $442 million, but other non-Broadway-based musicals have made more than that.

The 2019 live-action remake of "The Lion King" musical is the 10th highest-grossing film of all time, with $1.6 billion in ticket sales. "Frozen," "Frozen II," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Aladdin" have also grossed over a billion dollars.

All of these films, except "Frozen," grossed between $200 and $450 million in their debut weekend.

Rob Mitchell, the director of theatrical insights at film industry research firm Gower Street Analytics, told Business Insider that he expected "Wicked" to exceed "Mamma Mia," which made $611 million in worldwide ticket sales per Box Office MoJo. Mitchell doubted the Oz adaption will reach the same heights at "The Lion King."

He said the fanbase of the stage musical, Ariana Grande's star power, and the multi-generational appeal of the Oz story were behind the movie's success.

"The main reason will just be that it is a superb production," Mitchell added. "It's the type of big-screen spectacle that cinema was made for."

'Moana 2' may pose a threat to 'Wicked' this Thanksgiving

With "Moana 2" premiering this week, "Wicked" has a new competitor at the box office going into Thanksgiving weekend.

Disney movies have topped six of the last eight Thanksgiving box office weekends.

The first "Moana," which was the top-grossing film over the 2016 Thanksgiving weekend has become a children's classic. It brought in $643 million globally according to Box Office MoJo, putting it in the top 10 highest grossing musical movies.

Nielsen, an audience measurement firm, reported in January that Moana was the most-watched movie on a streaming platform in the US in 2023, with over 11.3 billion minutes streamed.

With three highly popular franchises in cinemas, consumers will likely be divided between them.

Regardless of incoming competition, Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst for Comscore, told Business Insider via email that the success of "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" is a "gift" to theaters after a rocky year shadowed by release delays and underperforming movies.

"It has set into motion the potential for a very strong revenue generating month of December" he said, adding that both movies were well-positioned for "long-term playability on big screens."

• Jon M. Chu's "Wicked" premiered in theaters on November 22.
• "Wicked" topped the domestic box office with an estimated $114 million.
• The film has earned an estimated $164.2 million worldwide so far.

"Wicked" is soaring at the box office.

Universal Pictures' highly anticipated — and heavily promoted — film topped the domestic box office with an estimated $114 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend. With an additional estimated $50.2 million in the international market, Deadline reported that the film has had the biggest worldwide opening for a Broadway feature adaptation.

Director Jon M. Chu's "Wicked" is a prequel to "The Wizard of Oz" that invites audiences to learn how the Wicked Witch of the West came to be. The star-studded cast includes Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, and several other actors who bring the magical realm to the silver screen.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Universal splurged on "Wicked," spending more than $320 million to create the two-part film. While it's unclear what portion of the budget went toward marketing, the musical themes, cast, and iconic pink and green motif have been ubiquitous for months in brand partnerships, including Starbucks and Stanley cups.

"Wicked" is based on the eponymous Broadway musical inspired by Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel. This film only covers part of the musical. A second film is expected to hit theaters in November 2025.

But the witchy "Wicked" isn't the only big-budget film gaining attention this Thanksgiving week.

Ridley Scott's "Gladiator II" also debuted in American theaters on Friday, prompting movie fans to dub the phenomenon "Glicked." It's reminiscent of 2023's record-breaking blockbuster July when Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" and Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" — dubbed "Barbenheimer" — both took Hollywood by storm.

"Gladiator II" also has a stacked cast with Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, and Pedro Pascal.

The action film earned an estimated $55.5 million domestically. It debuted overseas a week earlier, however, and has so far grossed an estimated $165 million from the international market, Variety reported.