Policy equivalent to tariffs to make it unfavorable to offshore vs hiring onshore talent. I.R.C. §174 implements this concept with an amortization delta between US and non-US based development and R&D cost accounting, for example.
"We can make you come into the office because we say so or we'll just offshore." might be challenging in the current zeitgeist.
Nothing about a labor union implies this, either, just that labor is necessary to produce revenue. This is still true for service-based companies, even if it takes longer for underinvesting in labor to hurt.
> The GP is suggesting companies thinking that if we don't need in-office workers, why not just offshore it altogether?
This is true regardless of if you're in a union or not. I'm not going just to toss the baby out with the bathwater. There isn't a situation where I don't want a union outside of maybe self-employment.