[tdeck]

I wonder if some part of this is the ego trip of seeing your workers in your building working for you. As an executive, that's got to be more fulfilling than looking at some OKR slides and an employee roster. I don't believe this is the only motivator but it's surely somewhere in the mix.

[dannyw]

How about the fact that executives are regular people, who (1) have their human emotions, including possibly a natural desire to have in-person interaction with the people they work with, and (2) listen to other employees, some of which are in the pro-office camp (as seen in this HN thread)?

Executives ain't some mystical species. They are regular people in a position of power.

[tdeck]

Not sure how that contradicts what I've said. I, as a regular person, understand the thrill of walking around a place I own. I enjoy playing SimCity-style games and seeing everything running in the city I built, but I don't get the same result looking at the stats screen. If I were in such a position of power, this would be a perk of return-to-office that would apply to me more than to my subordinates.

[deagle50]

Totally. Also seeing and hearing the fear and subordination, a sociopath's delight.