I suspect that it is a matter of attempting to assert control rather than a policy of brutal bleak and attrition, but yes, I must say that I do find the deliberate (and deliberately cultivated) ignorance of management (and owners) - and refusal to acknowledge (let alone accept) the widespread unhappiness of their workforce with conditions in the modern office work environment, to be rather telling.
That is all well and good, but - to be quite candid - these are not the conditions under which most people endure the experience of their work lives, and a great many people have neither the luxury of liking what they do, nor enjoying the company (and professional expertise) of those with whom they work.
Yes, some jobs work better face to face, and some, obviously, require face to face interaction.
However, not all do, and management has been reluctant to acknowledge that potential for transformational change of tech in people's lives, and, above all, in people's work lives, with the single, striking, exception of where it can be used to ensure that staff are on call 24/7 - and have been reluctant to accept that developments in tech, and the changes enforced by the pandemic, mean that many people realised that they did not need to be in the office all of the time, and that advances in tech meant that they could work perfectly well from home, at least for a couple of days each week.
Well, in my case, I know of very few people who wished to return to the office, and I must say that I know hardly anyone who wished to return to the office full time.
