Axios

The number of Americans back in offices has been steadily climbing since the height of the pandemic. But it's starting to fall back down, per LinkedIn data.

• The big picture: It's a sign that the balance between remote and in-person work will continue to oscillate with the times.

What's happening:

• Americans who have the option of working from home might be doing so to avoid paying for public transit or gas as the economy tightens, says George Anders, senior editor-at-large at LinkedIn.
• And the recent winter storms and cold snaps could be deterring people to trudge forward with daily commutes.
• There are also people who have recently been hired for fully in-person jobs who discovered upon joining that onsite attendance five days a week isn't necessary. So they've slipped into hybrid work, Anders says.

The bottom line: Employers want workers to come back for good, but it's unlikely work will ever return to what it was before the pandemic's massive experiment in teleworking.

Millions around the world have built careers out of influencing — getting us to buy things.

• Now a new trend is on the rise: “de-influencing.”

What’s happening: On TikTok and on Instagram, more and more people are using their platforms to tell fans what not to buy to push back against the growing pressure to spend more and more cash to hop on viral trends.

• Why it matters: It’s a real threat to the $16 billion influencer marketing economy if the trend of rising above the influence spreads — and lasts.

By the numbers: Social media and commerce have become inextricably linked.

• The number of American consumers who research products on social networks has increased 42% since 2015, according to GWI, a market research firm.
• And shopping after being influenced by social media often leads to snap decisions. Gen Z — the generation most deeply steeped in social commerce — is 23% more likely to make impulse purchases, and 27% less likely to spend time finding the best deals, per GWI.

But now, “we’re seeing social commerce go through a recession for the first time,” says Chris Beer, an analyst at GWI.

• The number of Gen Zers interested in influencers has dropped 12% since 2020, and the number who take note of what influencers wear has fallen 16% since then, per GWI data.

As a result, influencers — and others — are making viral videos listing trendy makeup products or shoes that aren’t worth the money, or what to cut when planning trips or weddings.

• "People don’t want to look like they’re going out and spending cash," says Beer.
• “The hashtag #deinfluencing has racked up more than 76 million views on TikTok,” notes Today.

What to watch: whether Gen Z's fatigue with overconsumption outlasts the current economic situation.

The Super Bowl is America's biggest collective party. And whether you're there for the football game, the halftime show, or the commercials, it's must-see TV. Yet the NFL makes us conduct this ritual at the most inconvenient time imaginable. On a school night.

The big picture: A record 18.8 million workers are predicted to no-show Monday, the day after the Super Bowl. And some schools in Philadelphia, anticipating a long night (and perhaps a rough morning) for Eagles-loving households, are delaying Monday classes.

TikTok, the popular social media app that’s taken the world by storm, is increasingly living a double life in the U.S.

• The platform faces growing bans and open disdain from lawmakers, while also representing potentially huge financial returns for its American investors.

Why it matters: After decades of a united pro-China stance, the U.S. political and business consensus is fracturing in ways that are creating blowback for investors and companies.

A lot of politicians are going to be talking about the debt ceiling this spring. Ignore them. Their words — a small part of negotiations that are mostly private — should almost never be taken at face value.

Why it matters: At stake is the full faith and credit of the United States of America.

More than $1 trillion of green bonds have been issued in the past two years, but at this point maybe they should be called celadon — still green, probably, but barely so, and largely indistinguishable in price or documentation from their non-green counterparts.

Why it matters: Green bonds mean new money going into projects that will help save the planet. In that sense, they should be far more effective than ESG funds that simply buy pre-existing stocks from other investors.

Following a year of economic chaos and post-pandemic recovery, advertisers are leaning into lighter spots featuring A-list talent to win attention during Sunday's Super Bowl event on Fox.

Why it matters: Super Bowl ads "definitely focus on the mood of the country," Tim Curtis, a senior partner in WME’s celebrity endorsement division, told Axios at an Endeavor/USA Today Super Bowl advertising event Thursday in Scottsdale, Arizona.