Well, in a very hot labour market in a big city, you will actually have to pay more for workers if you're far enough that people can't take transit conveniently

Well, in a very hot labour market in a big city, you will actually have to pay more for workers if you're far enough that people can't take transit conveniently. That means they have to buy a car, and drive it every day, so why take the job paying effectively less? In a sense, the market already is accounting for things like the cost of gas, somewhat. It'll be true for WFH as well. Other than that, in general, previous wages were negotiated with the old work-in-the-office dynamic. Now that the terms have changed considerably, it seems only natural to ensure one isn't getting the short end of the stick under the new contract. At the very least run the numbers and make sure you break even?