When coupled with surprise meetings that don’t pertain directly to my projects and the inability to multitask, I think that the home office is a net positive.
- You get plenty of personal space
- My cubicle got both a whiteboard and a bulletin board, a locker, two trash bins, and enough desk space to comfortably fit a co-worker for short sessions of working together
- high walls discourage conversations, so it is actually quiet
The biggest disadvantage is artificial lighting - my cubicle was quite removed from the windows.
Ironically enough, I do have a door at home.
That's because (up until this shift) they have been forced to live in close proximity to offices. For the price of a downtown apartment, you can live in a suburb or rural area with more space that you could need. The longer this forced shift (pandemic) goes on, the more people will move away from the poor quality of life cities. Once they get the taste of a life without tiny overpriced apartments and time sucking commutes, they will only go back if they are forced - i.e. don't have the skills to easily jump ship.
You can have your preferences but there still exists an amount of compensation at which the average employee's preferences are offset.