This, I feel, is the issue: The decision makers don't want to work from home themselves. It doesn't have the same appeal that it does for individual contributor

This, I feel, is the issue: The decision makers don't want to work from home themselves. It doesn't have the same appeal that it does for individual contributors, and having employees out of sight is almost unthinkable. There are certainly going to be exceptions, but anyone wanting to work remotely permanently will have an uphill battle.