When the pandemic started and everyone was on lockdown, there were very few cars on the roads around SF. I remember being able to see into the distance so clearly, it was surprising. I read that 2/3 of the SF Bay Area could work remotely. In the age of climate change (not to mention air pollution) we probably should insist on, or even mandate, remote work whenever possible. Supposed productivity benefits from in person work are not as important.
Yes, when you zoom out, this debate become quite ridiculous. WFH has already been proven to not destroy the company and many roles beyond dev can be done remotely. The amount of road building, carbon emissions, fossil fuel, and traffic congestion generated for this questionable value of gathering every day is pretty staggering. It's the kind of thing we will look back at in future years in disbelief that we could be so wantonly wasteful with the limited resources of our fragile biosphere.
