I guess it depends on your role and how you execute it to a large extent. The OP mentioned certain roles that are to a large extent possible to wfh. Maybe 3 out of 5 days one can wfh.

Also in respect to Bay Area it certainly hurts productivity if you have to spend 2 hours everyday in commute. Unless your role means constantly blabbering on the phone you just can’t work while commuting. And I would argue if you do spend most of the time yapping on the phone then it shouldn’t matter if you are doing it remotely except for few cases where face to face is absolutely necessary.

> Overall, face-to-face time decreased by around 70 per cent across the participating employees, on average, with email use increasing by between 22 per cent and 50 per cent (depending on the estimation method used).

From Harvard study in 2018 comparing pre/post open-office.

https://digest.bps.org.uk/2018/07/05/open-plan-offices-drive...