I've not heard a specific reason in my case. I suspect it's due to office rent and the expense associated with the desire to keep the space. Might be different for those of you working in other fields, but as a lot of software engineers frequent this site, I wondered what their experiences were.
The CEOs of my last two companies ditched all offices and went 100% distributed during the pandemic. For software it made more sense to recruit workers from anywhere than a drivable radius from a city office.<p>Companies eager to return to offices have most likely invested money in fancy offices and they want to see that investment put to use.<p>Remote workers are more productive, take fewer sick days [1], and can work from cheaper areas, a win-win. To give up that value proposition companies would need something more valuable in return, and water cooler talk and cubicle to cubicle chatter doesn't seem worth it<p>1. <a href="https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/teleworkers-more-productive-even-when-sick.aspx" rel="nofollow">https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/...</a>
Physical need, we can't take the labs home and networked access isn't the same as physical access (or isn't the same for all tasks). So some people are in full-time (or near), most are back a few days a week, and people working in other areas (that have less obvious need for physical presence) are back on rare occasions (specific meetings) unless they're in sales or sociable. Sales people seem to like the social aspect of the office (maybe not all, but certainly here).
Rationalized it? Haha, that's a good one. They also haven't rationalized why I've had to work (remotely) within distance of the campus instead of allowing me to work out-of-state, which would enable me to actually buy a house and live closer to family. Instead, I've been arbitrarily trapped with the perennial promise that a post-COVID remote work policy is on the horizon.
Work for on HW side of things for a molecular diags( COVID testing)company here in BayArea. I am classified as a “hybrid” worker and management expects me to perform most of my duties from home( I don’t have lab at home) but I go to office and get my lab work done and do cat-herding from home. Works fine so far
I haven't heard a single reason other than the CEO saying, "I like being in the office and I want to see people."<p>To be fair, they are not mandating it. They are asking people what they want and supporting people's personal choice. At least for now.
No rational has been given at my organization. Leading into the office building's shutdown a number of fully remote employees were hired which makes the pull back to the physical office make even less logistical sense.
We need to return to office for the culture. That's the only thing I've heard.<p>That's despite increased productivity, increased talent pool, and increased retention that we've seen due to remote work.
Mine has not. But from people I know who's CEOs have, basically a return on investment in office space is the only reason that can be articulated.