[dimator]

Just as a counter point, I can't wait to be back in the office.

Remote work, while granted is hyper productive, I've never felt so disconnected from my teammates. There are people I used to have contact with daily that I haven't even slacked with in months. A chat/Zoom window is a much higher barrier to conversation than meeting for lunch, coffee, hallway paths crossing, waiting for the bus etc. I'm completely out of touch with what they're working on, aside from little blurbs in stand-ups. We have all become little siloes. I miss whiteboard conversations.

And that's to say nothing about the personal connections that have suffered. As adults, the place where you spend the most time with non-friends is the workplace, so that's the best bet at making new friends (in the same way school is for adolescence).

The funny thing is, when I was in the office, I felt most productive when I was given long stretches of time to just do focused work. But productivity is not the end goal of a career. It's collaboration and team achievement.

I have a feeling that the powers that be that are beating the back to work drum recognize some of these aspects. Obviously they see the productivity metrics, but they see the amount disconnect as well.

[soapboxrocket]

> I've never felt so disconnected from my teammates.

That's a valid point, but having everyone back in the office isn't the only solution to that problem. It may be the best solution, but seems like the easiest rather than the best.