Those "gentleman's agreements" were not that great if you happened to be a woman, gay or any other minority. The upsides to HR, employment regulation and so on has been making the office a far better place to work for a lot of people.
While I agree that there are rampant problems in a lot of sectors, from low skilled to medical, there have been some wins. My team went fully remote for 2 years and now most people still work 3 days a week from home. We were able to build up a large and talented team during the lockdowns with most of my co-workers and those I manage 3 timezones away. We adopted more flexible working hours and we've never been happier. My manager can take time in the morning to get his kids to creche and I can take a longer lunch to check in on elderly relatives. I no longer spend 2 hours a day stuck in traffic. Our productivity has skyrocketed. We may be privileged tech workers, but the change in work styles has definitely boosted our company as a whole.