Where does that 20% figure come from?
My sense is that people who are slacking when working from home are the same people who are slacking when working in the office, so it's a wash.
For me WFH is a game changer - much of my career progression has come during the years that I've been able to put in deep work at home and actually produce great work - rather than being distracted in an office.
I don't mind going in, but when I have to produce my best work I know that being at home will give me the best chance of achieving that. Not just as I will end up (happily) working a longer day - but in each of those hours I can just get more done, with fewer distractions. If I call someone we can both concentrate on the call as I don't have background noise. And if I need to put in another hour to get something over the line (happens maybe once or twice a month and I'm happy with it), being at home means that the pain of doing so is really limited.
Plus even on a stressful/busy day - I can find time to run into the house for 5 mins and put the washing on/in the drier or just chill out on the sofa for a moment. In the office I can maybe walk to the shops and buy snacks.
I know WFH isn't for everyone or for all roles, but it has changed the way I work for the better. Office days are nice to see people, but rubbish for actually getting work done.
Pretty sure my wfh days now are less productive than when I was 100% wfh.
I think it’s just that I find it harder to build up and maintain habits for just one day per week.
The article (?) only claims that it's because of 20% of slackers. As JohnFen said in a peer comment, that may be a wash. They're the 20% you want to fire anyway.
But let's say it's not just those 20%. Let's say that everyone is somewhat less productive when WHF.
OK, but we can still make a deal. You, the company, let us, the non-slacker employees, work from home, for the same money as working in the office. We also get not having to spend the commute time (which was, essentially, unpaid work time). You get the ability to run the same business with a much smaller office, which saves a huge amount of money.