https://archive.is/2023.05.16-094359/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/the-return-to-the-office-has-stalled-e0af9741
The number of companies that require employees to be in the office full time has actually declined to 42%, from 49% three months ago, Scoop said. Employees at companies with hybrid strategies work an average of 2.5 days a week in the office.
Your conclusion completely applies to my job. I work in a state funded non profit. We were fully remote during the whole pandemic and converted the whole workflow to work remotely. We were forced to return to the office full time 5 times a week and although the whole team hates it, the bosses argument is "yeah but We prefer it this way".
The truth is that weak leaderships benefit from everybody being in the office, because bullying and blaming isn't very effective through channels where they can be easily registered. Also, unnecessary commuting breaks people, makes them more numb and more obedient.
What drives me crazy is that - at least for my former team - having to move to remote work essentially overnight forced us to come up with new communication and reporting processes that were better than in-person. Which we still had to use when forced to go back to the office because not everyone worked at the same location. So there was no benefit to going back except to please the bosses and those few workers who claimed they actually wanted to return.