Agree on the culture and connection as well, though I feel you get the culture benefits even if you meet in person every once in a while. No need for everyone to be in the same place all the time.

I work in an environment where even before the pandemic we were very flexible with working hours and working remotely. It was weird going more remote at first, but as restrictions eased up, we just naturally shifted back to the flexible regime. My guesstimate is the average work from office days fell from 4 to 2-3. For some people it's still 0 or 5, and it's fine. A lot of the people first came in during the remote times, how would the office make them more productive if it would mean completely changing your habits?

More junior people tend to get more benefit from the in person experience, being more remote means you have to adapt your approach in dealing with them.

I also don't buy the argument of people working less from home. It's just as easy to not do the work in the office. It's actually easier to hide behind a wall of busywork in the office than at home.

I guess large anough companies have to set rules to avoid feelings of it being unfair, but offering the flexibility and choice is a huge benefit which some newer up and coming companies could exploit.