It’s unfortunate that it has gotten so black and white. I’m a big fan of WFH. But I also think it’s beneficial to see people in the office and interact on a regular basis. Why can’t we have both?
having both is equivalent to having WFH (but without the cost savings to the business regarding office rentals).
People who want an office are likely doing so in the expectation that there'd be people there. What actually happens is that the office is semi-empty on most days, and you'd get a few ghosts here and there (unless there's mandated office days).
So in the end, hybrid (without mandated days) is basically the same as WFH.
It allows the company to be flexible with meeting space budget without being on the hook for permanent space.
My company ran out of space pre-Covid, so we would book random meeting spaces (within walking distance) around the city.
Just without the crazy, megalomaniac founder CEO, without trying to spin it as being the savior of humanity, without a buttload of unrelated and extremely questionable side projects, without trying to sell it as a tech company and inflating the valuation to absurd levels.
I’m actually rooting for hybrid with mandated office days (eg Tue-Thu) but without being super strict about it. If people can’t make it on a day or even two that’s fine.