On this site I’ve seen people mention the sunk cost of all of these huge office spaces on long term leases. If the workers aren’t herded back into the cubicle farms then there is biiiig mistake that someone has to take credit for. And that person would be the highest executives who would have the authority to throw around 10s of millions on a lease.

Bullshit jobs talks at length about how capitalists enjoy having their legions of workers. Graeber likens it to feudal courts where nobles measured their worth and status by how many useless sods they could patronize. Any manager who personally identifies as a manager more than a worker, middle management being the grey area that it is, enjoys exercising their authority. Not being able to do it in person really takes the kick out of the stuff. Getting the workers back into their little castles gets their dicks hard.

There are a lot of industries where the direct communication aspect of being in person is super helpful. In an industry like video games where every little thing effects everyone’s work being in person is legitimately helpful. This late in the pandemic though most industries should have been able to transition by now.