All these companies have leases burning a monthly hole in their pockets. So I guess they figure they should get people into those buildings.
It's a foolish sunk cost fallacy.
It's a foolish sunk cost fallacy.
I think the real reason lies between "butts in seats" and layoffs.
I also feel like there is a class of management that feels good about themselves by having subordinates observe them with all the trappings of their office. These are the people that want a dress code and spend money to look good at work even if nobody ever sees a customer. They have to have the bigger office -- not out of need -- to demonstrate their position. Bigger desk. They might have a better computer than developers even though they never use anything more taxing that Excel (this happened a lot more 20 years ago, less today). These people want to return to office, otherwise nobody knows how much they are in charge of.