Memes

Nah, be honest with yourself, that's not the reason.

1. The simple reality is that most people aren't self-motivated enough to maintain the level of productivity at home that they maintain in the office.
2. Communication is more difficult.
3. Keeping an eye on your employees is easier when they're literally within eyesight.
4. Training is easier when you have another person close by who can lead you through it.

It's likely that, in the long-term, we'll end up with a hybrid system, where those that prove themselves responsible enough to WFH, will get to WFH, while the rest will be back in offices, which is the exact same thing we had prior to Covid.

The companies I worked for let me WFH every day(aside from one weekly meeting) for years before Covid, but I routinely did 3x the work of other people, even as a junior developer.

The problem isn't with the companies, the problem is human nature, we don't want to work, so we use every opportunity to wiggle out of it, on average, at least.