Andrea Javor Urges 3-Martini Lunch Revival as AI and RTO Fail to Restore Workplace Connection
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 18
Andrea Javor Urges 3-Martini Lunch Revival as AI and RTO Fail to Restore Workplace Connection
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 18
Summary
Andrea Javor argues corporate America should bring back the “three-martini lunch” — with or without alcohol — as a deliberate way to rebuild human connection at work.
AI tools, heavier workloads and always-on productivity culture have squeezed out long, informal meetings, she says, leaving managers with bot-polished emails, fewer spontaneous conversations and weaker relationships.
Return-to-office policies have not fixed that gap: Boston University research cited by Javor says workers saw through socializing claims, while BambooHR found more than a quarter say mandates deepened colleague divides.
Javor traces the lunch’s decline from a 1950s symbol of business excess through 1976 tax-break criticism and the 2000s-2010s rise of hustle culture, Slack and constant email checking.
Her broader point is that unhurried, in-person time now has strategic value because authentic connection cannot be measured like output, even as companies organize work around AI-driven efficiency.