I work for a large, non-tech, Fortune 500 company in the Midwest. When I was interviewing here back in January/February of 2020, they insisted on making all tech workers work in-person out of the Chicago office and even paid me a relocation bonus to move back to Chicago. After having spent my entire career at various startups across the country, some of which were remote, it seemed a bit backwards and old fashioned to insist that everyone work in-person, but I rolled with it since I wanted to move back to Chicago anyways.
Ironically, my first day coincided with the March 2020 lockdowns, so I never ended up going into the office. Since then the company has hired engineers from across the country and contractors from around the world. Leadership has mentioned many times how nice it would be to have everyone back in the office, but it's simply too late at this point. We're too distributed to bring everyone back. I worked out of the office recently and I was literally the only one there.
I wouldn't mind working from the office if I had an actual office. But instead I get an open space cubicle with random people walking and talking behind my back every 5 minutes. I get a $50 uncomfortable chair that looks like it's 15 years old. I get an unstocked kitchen, so I have to spend $15-20 on a meal. I get random people stealing food and stuff of my desk.
This was at a big 3-letter corporation and at a startup before that. I switched to remote 10 years ago and don't ever want to work from "the office" ever again.
I work for a company that was a hardcore office only. Then covid started. We made a decision in less than half an hour and in just a couple of days everyone was working remote. That was back in 2020. Since then, some heads of departments changed their stances completely and point blank refuse to return to the office. Some didn't know how to manage people,so they ended up getting them back in the office. My department was a perfect example that remote could work,so we were left alone and any further attempts to bring people back to the office were killed before gaining any traction. I ended up moving to a different country. Shortly after I asked if I could get a budget for some office space. The CEO approved.So after more than 7 years in stupid open space offices,I ended up in a corner office. I furnished it with my own money, everything from a fridge to a couch and even a bottle of whisky. O used to get approached every 10 min about some shit. Now I sit alone all day. People still call, email me, but I don't get distracted with stupid shit. My second half never understood why I spent all that money on that office space,but for me it was that ultimate corner of my own.
You get a cubicle? I thought nowadays the norm is just people sitting at a row of desks, as if office furniture and space was made of gold and needed to be extremely optimised for.
It helps you "collaborate", if by "collaboration" you mean everybody griping about how awful the working conditions are. It's funny to see people waxing nostalgic about the days in the office - everybody working in an open space, wearing headphones and ignoring one another so they could get some work done, and everybody griping about how awful the environment is.
I have a story very similar to yours. I worked in the office for a total of one week in March 2020 before we voluntarily switched to remote. (In Florida, so no real lockdowns.) We were expecting it to be a few weeks, maybe a couple months...
Now we're in the process of releasing our leased office, and renting a much smaller space for occasional collaboration. My team, which is only 7 people to start with, live in 4 different metros.
There is no back for us as a company. This is how we work now.
For the OP: I would take a look at how companies are hiring. If their job reqs are all for specific locations and no remote listings, then I would expect that you would be correct for that company. If their listings are remote, then I would expect that they're probably beyond that point.
_An_ office to go to if you _want_ to work there is different from a _requirement_ to work there. Imagine if the office were more like a members only coffee shop with a crummy kerieg pod coffee machine. Do you not remember what pre-pandemic was like?
Ironically, my first day coincided with the March 2020 lockdowns, so I never ended up going into the office. Since then the company has hired engineers from across the country and contractors from around the world. Leadership has mentioned many times how nice it would be to have everyone back in the office, but it's simply too late at this point. We're too distributed to bring everyone back. I worked out of the office recently and I was literally the only one there.