It isn’t. It's an opinion, and in my opinion, a bad one that isn't justified by anything.
At my company we only use them if necessary, and I’ve been with them for over 3 years working remotely. We get work done quite well.
edit: update wording for clarity
Unfortunately a new manager insists that everyone should have cameras switched on for "human connection" and so that people feel more integrated.
It’s possible, I’d guess likely, that you’ve been able to get work done well in spite of no cameras.
Of course, I doubt anyone would do an experiment to see if your statement is true or not.
I just thought that your statement seemed so absolute but the evidence you present isn’t.
We're not getting work done "in spite of" no cameras. We're getting work done, period, and don't have to deal with the fatigue of having a webcam on all the time.
But I disagree with you because I think they are important and useful.
Combining them into a single statement with an and is what makes the disagreement.
Perhaps you could get even more work done with cameras on when communicating with people.
Just feeling fatigue doesn’t seem like a reason to turn off cameras. I feel fatigue from working, yet I do it.
So they aren’t necessary, except when they are?
Webcams do have uses but they're not necessary nearly most of the time. The few exceptions we've had are for pointing a webcam at a whiteboard and for presenting a meeting to some higherups in the airforce.