For a very long time I've taken the view that things are almost never as much the way they are as we think they are. We're in a constant state of veering from o

For a very long time I've taken the view that things are almost never as much the way they are as we think they are. We're in a constant state of veering from over to under estimating things. When the pandemic happened there were a lot of people (especially on HN) screaming about how the office was over and we were all free, we'd be sipping Martinis on the beach in the Bahamas whilst logging on to zoom. Then the pandemic started to recede and a drum beat emerged of how everyone will come back to the office in the end. I think the truth is neither. Technology and infrastructure has evolved significantly in the last 2 decades bringing us to the point where we can do significant parts of our jobs from home. And for some people that'll be their preference, and for some companies that'll be a preference too. Either because they see it as a way to win and retain talent, or because they find ways to cut costs. One of the hilarious side notes to this is in the UK where a particular politician decided he was going to insist every civil servant return to the office - leaving passive aggressive notes on their desk if they were absent. Naturally, this politician isn't a details man, and so wasn't aware of the slightly inconvenient fact that the British Government were saving shed loads of cash by not needing desks for everyone and in some sectors, like the Department for Education, the number of employees out number desks by a factor of 2:1. Hybrid work is here, it's been here for a while. The pandemic just brought more attention to it.