[aaomidi]

That's funny because internally at Google this is what happened:

Step 1) Forced RTO for folks who weren't officially remote back to their HCOL offices. (Also, in some orgs, fully remote people were being told they're not going to get promoted).

Note that remote folk were getting paid less. They removed the ability to apply to go fully remote too effectively.

Step 2) Moving people to be closer in their "main offices" for their team. Again, inflating how much they need to pay.

Step 3) Suddenly, its fine to hire in lower cost of living areas, even though the team is now going to be split again.

The reason they gave for RTO was better inperson team work, but then are splitting teams again.