I can imagine a different solution that would allow work from home and still solve many of the problems you mentioned. The idea is to decouple "the company you

I can imagine a different solution that would allow work from home and still solve many of the problems you mentioned. The idea is to decouple "the company you work for" from "the place you work at" for everyone, including those who want to work in an office. Basically, coworking places everywhere. You sign a contract with the company. You either work from home, or find a coworking place where you rent a desk, or coordinate with some of your colleagues to rent a desk at the same place. You could make a different choice on different days. > removing an outlet for socializing for people that are new to the area / country and don’t have friends The coworking places would have quiet desks, and also rooms to chat, with sound isolation. Whenever you want to get social, you walk to the room, and socialize. You can meet people who work at the same company, or people who work at different companies. When you feel like working again, walk back to your desk. > lack of face to face team bonding for new employees People working at the same company could agree to spend one day in a week at the same coworking place. This could be flexible, like if the company has 1000 employees, but your team has 10, only those 10 people need to coordinate together. > reduced ability to learn by absorbing what happens around oneself Either coordinate with your colleagues, or share the screen remotely. I learned a few things by watching my colleagues do things on their computers in a different country. > higher competition for junior and mid-career positions from other countries Well, yes. More opportunities for someone means more competition for someone else. That said, many companies found out that hiring people from other countries has its own challenges, so you will always have an advantage of being local.