I concur: I'm typing this from my home office in Palm Springs, and I'm a Director at Google.
Mere Developers are essentially never permitted to work remotely long-term. Google would rather lose someone valuable like Tim Bray to a major competitor than allow him to do so.
If you're a global subject expert like Professor Hinton, maybe you'll be accommodated, but you dare don't mislead people into believing it's remotely common. That would be a lie.
Personally, I would not want to report to someone who spends the majority of time remote. But maybe this person is a really great boss.
Why? There is really little to no difference if person is in next cubicle or video chat away.
i tried to create a plan to go remote within a year of starting, and i was told that people WAY more senior than me have tried and failed to go remote