[charlie0]

I agree with this 100%. As other commenters have pointed out, there is a difference between getting work done and actually building relationships. It's very possible to get high quality work done remotely, but relationship-wise, it's very transactional in nature for most people.

So far, I've been involved with several teammates and building meaningful relationships remotely has been impossible for one reason or another. It's always just a quick chat about the weather and maybe something interesting that happened to someone that week, but that's it. At best, it's just a shallow form of camaderie.

I do believe that good relationships can be built remotely, but it's not trivial to do. At my workplace, there was never a meaningful cultural shift towards remote work after COVID hit.

But hey, a bit of loneliness is better than being stuck in traffic for 2 hours a day right?