> The only group not benefitting from RTO are the actual workers.
That depends on the worker’s goals. If your goal is to have work/life balance or “personal” productivity then, yeah, I empathize. But there is more investment I put back into my team when I’m in person. It’s not just my code output. I find it very hard to mentor young engineers remotely.
Also, if you are a stockholder, like many engineers, and if teams do in fact have more “synergy” (bleh) then it’s also good for the workers via stock based comp.
When I was young and learning my trade I had a group of older co-workers who decided they liked me enough to invite me to join their lunch group. It was a very informal mentorship, they showed me the ropes, provided guidance and generally made me better at my job. This was all because they knew me enough and liked me enough to put in the effort, they got little out of it other than enjoying watching another guy come up in our field. Now I'm a grey beard with less than a decade left and I'd like to return the favor but to whom? I don't work in an office and I have no relationship with most of my co-workers, I do my job and they do theirs. Management could force me to mentor one or more of the engineers but that probably wouldn't work out very well for anyone. There's no relationship with my co-workers anymore because we never see each other and while slack and zoom is great for a 20 something it just doesn't work for me and in the end I'm the one with the institutional knowledge that I won't be passing along to the loss of both the employee and the company.
If the worker's goals aren't pro-worker then the business certainly won't be. Your goal of training others is admirable, but that can be often be remote and won't stop them from getting rid of you the moment it is convenient.
That depends on the worker’s goals. If your goal is to have work/life balance or “personal” productivity then, yeah, I empathize. But there is more investment I put back into my team when I’m in person. It’s not just my code output. I find it very hard to mentor young engineers remotely.
Also, if you are a stockholder, like many engineers, and if teams do in fact have more “synergy” (bleh) then it’s also good for the workers via stock based comp.