Remote work has been around quite a while. Used to be called 'offshoring'. The main driver is raw economics: the price of tech labor is too high. 'Social distancing' is simply an excuse to push it into overdrive.
Offshoring in my experience is a very different set of relationships. It tends to have a significant power differential and to be much more distant, both physically and emotionally.
But remote working does. I spend more time with friends and my significant other then I did before. Because now I have more time to engage in social interactions I prefer. Work social interactions for me are just to a level of professional courtesy. It is more fun to interact with people outside of my field....
I love my new life. Don't ever want to go back to the office.
Actually I would. If I can stay out here in the burbs and work is just a 10 minute drive or bus ride from the school/home. But I hate city life so I have to live so far that the commute sucks.
I totally get the offshoring thing tho. The only thing remotely (no pun intended) 'preventing' that is timezones. But once you offshore _all_ the jobs, timezone are much less of a problem. I hope they still would be enough of a problem that we can have the cake and eat it too.