It will be a blend in the end.

Right now it is more a fashion thing. Depending on the structure of your company it will work very well or not at at all.

Sometimes throwing 3 people in a room with a whiteboard and a few markers fixes a lot of issues. That sort of thing does not usually happen remote from my exp. But in an office it happens all the time. Sometimes there are too many help vampires. They are good enough but require a lot of hand holding to get up to 'works independent'. The ones they goto are usually the most productive people and that does not happen as much remote. So the more productive ones say 'this is awesome' because they get so much done, but meanwhile the rest of the org is struggling.

Also when you work remote after a few years people 'forget' about you. You get left out of things. Because they just do not see you. If they do not see you, you do not exist to them. I worked remote for about 10 years. I had to be very diligent to be included into things. Recently a few years ago I got to work in an office again with a great group. It was amazing. I learned so much so quickly. I became way more productive. I was able to share a lot more to more jr devs. But now it is back to the same things where I have to spend a lot of time being noticed for anything, and basically having to play a interesting game of 'be nice in email'. Also if you do not have an advocates in management it will be even worse (luckily I do not have that issue this time). Remote work has a lot going for it but also a lot going against it.

But in the end companies will need to measure it. If they don't it is nothing but a guess.

<<too many help vampires>>

This is my first time ever to see this description. It is perfect. I am currently sitting next to someone who is exactly this! I cannot figure out if this person is lacking skills or just plain lazy... but they sure take up a lot of my time compared to their net output!

The best way to help them is to challenge them with questions. Basically teach them to learn it and ask things like 'did you look at the docs and what did they say?' 'if you were going to do it how would you?...' and so on. One important aspect is to teach them to have their own authority to do things. Basically do not show them exactly how to do something but guide them to learning how to do it. But it can take awhile to 'fix'. No quick answer for that situation.

>lots of learning the soft skills

This is actually something that didn't cross my mind through this whole thing, and I don't know why. I love WFH, and wish my employer would extend the option, rather than take a hardline stance against it (old administration doesn't understand productivity tools so we all suffer).

That being said, if I was just starting out in the working world, my prospects absolutely would've been different as time went on. Working in an office full time 100% helped me realize that soft skills are as, if not more important than technical skill.

As a director of a very diverse department now, I actually look for soft skills more than anything. Technical aspects can be learned via the on-boarding process. Soft skills are so much harder to hone, though. Especially if you're entirely remote.

"meeting girls at lunch" is a lot less of a benefit under modern expectations of workplace behavior.

There may still be benefits though.

But anyway why not join a social club for dating? That's where people go intentionally to socialize, so your "hit rate" will be much higher.

This sounds out of touch with reality.

First of all, a social club for dating? Really? Are you sure you're in the right century? People most frequently meet each other dating the same way they always have, with a twist -- friends, institutions (including the workplace), bars and online dating (that's the twist).

Secondly, 22% of Americans met their spouse at work [1], and 27% have indicated they'd be open to it [2]. Does that mean that it's always a reasonable idea, or that it's free of risks and messiness? No and no. The fact that it's sometimes playing with fire isn't going to deter anybody.

Pandemic notwithstanding, Americans spend so much time at work in deeply intimate psychological settings building deep social bonds that it's only natural that romance often develops.

[1] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140211005135/en/Kee...

[2] https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/one-third-u-s-marriag...

<<"meeting girls at lunch" is a lot less of a benefit under modern expectations of workplace behavior.>>

From what country or culture did you write this comment?

I have lived in East Asia for a long time. Office culture is a major benefit for young people (men/women/straight/gay) to meet partners. It is actively encouraged in many countries in the region.

> "meeting girls at lunch" is a lot less of a benefit under modern expectations of workplace behavior.

I doubt human nature will change because or recent social mores. It will just adapt.

But over time, people tend to date people they meet regularly and get to bond with. I forget the percentages, but I remember reading a study saying that most marriages involve people who were classmates in high school, in college or were coworkers.

> But anyway why not join a social club for dating? That's where people go intentionally to socialize, so your "hit rate" will be much higher.

I'm not OP, but that's an additional effort and not always easy to do (for example your work hours could be longer, the social club might not be close by, etc, a myriad reasons).

See my previous part of the comment: a lot of people find their life partners in their vicinity, without going out of their way to look for them.

They don't have to be colleagues, but going out with the guys at lunch was a lot of fun :)