Companies are finally getting fed up with remote work

I've seen a lot of stories like this lately:

Tech companies that led the way in embracing remote work early in the pandemic are increasingly leading their workers right back to the office—whether they like it or not.

Alphabet-owned Google, Lyft, Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Salesforce have all recently walked back remote-work policies they originally set forth, or gotten serious about enforcing existing policies, after deciding that working in the office is more efficient and cost-effective.

I admit that for a short while it began to look like remote work really was going to be a permanent change caused by the pandemic. But everything always takes longer than you think, and companies that put up with it for a long time are finally getting sick and tired of remote work—which simply isn't as productive as office work no matter what remote workers say. Too much evidence has piled up to credibly deny this any longer.¹

This doesn't mean that all remote work will go away, of course. There was remote work before the pandemic and there will be a little more after the pandemic. But it's going to be measured in a small handful of percentage points, not as a revolution in work.

¹To summarize: (a) remote work is bad for new hires and junior employees, (b) even workers think remote work causes more problems than in-person work, (c) remote workers put in 3.5 hours less per week compared to in-person workers, and (d) anecdotally, Bambee's CEO says production drops 30% on days when everyone is working remotely.