I don't feel that the realities of rent/utilities/snacks get nearly enough attention in conversations like this. If you have more than a handful of employees with office space in a major metro area, rent is easily equal to (or more) than the cost of multiple people. If you are looking to trim costs in a bad economy, or on the flip side - grow your company efficiently, rent seems like an easy spot to compromise on.

The FAANGs have spent millions of dollars building or leasing their current offices, it's not hard to see the Finance/Accounting folks escalating that those investments should to be utilized. (Not saying that it's a primary driver here - but surely it's a factor.)