To me, the "little covid experiment" kind of validated the value of an office: Situational awareness. Previously, it was so easy to grab a coffee or lunch, and get an overall awareness of who is doing what. I'm still struggling to find a substitute for that.
Not sure why you are downvoted. I observed this as well. One manager hired a few new grads during covid. I spoke with them over Zoom to introduce myself, seemed like really smart and passionate people. One later told me that they are really lonely, managers are rarely there to push them / give them work / check up on them. I bet they feel awkward .. they're barely working, they don't know anyone in the company, and no one really cares about them. Perhaps this is just a symptom of mismanagement but I bet they feel invisible, they're probably asking themselves "why am I here? oh well the paycheque is nice"
