If we completely factor out things live commutes, time zones, living costs etc, and assume all employees live a reasonably comfortable commute from the office.

If we completely factor out things live commutes, time zones, living costs etc, and assume all employees live a reasonably comfortable commute from the office. Then I too would prefer to have e.g 2 office days per week. Both as an employer as an employee. But that’s not how it works. And part of the attraction of remote work is not having to live within an hour from the office. For these workers I’d much rather have mandatory periodical week long team meetings for example.