This idea that voice/video ostensibly reduces empathy may not be all bad. It's easier to set personal boundaries when the poorly equipped project or engineering

This idea that voice/video ostensibly reduces empathy may not be all bad. It's easier to set personal boundaries when the poorly equipped project or engineering manager on the other side of a voice or video bridge can't escalate with implied threats or histrionics. Cajoling and haranguing people to work for its own sake is not management, and the tech sets a boundary on a lot of that behavior. I'd argue the human contact in offices is rarely used to foster healthy long term relationships, and the improved mental health of remote employees appears to have a productivity benefit. Think of the anti-patterns that people use in offices because it works for them, and how those anti-patterns don't work anymore and they must find better tools. I can see how it's hard for superfluous managers who must compete to extract value from the same set of resources, but for a well aligned organization, remote is a potential renaissance.