It seems strange that Google management would push so hard on this. Nearly everyone I've spoken to has reported that WFH productivity has been equal, if not better than pre-pandemic.
What possible upside could there be that justifies forcing the issue and hurting morale by pissing so many people off? Sure, maybe there's an argument that a fully remote company has a hard time propagating a coherent corporate culture. But it seems like if you let everyone choose, it'd be 50/50 in-person vs. WFH. So, even if you give your employees full flexibility, you'll still wind up with decently full offices that can train junior people, promulgate a corporate culture, etc.
What possible upside could there be that justifies forcing the issue and hurting morale by pissing so many people off? Sure, maybe there's an argument that a fully remote company has a hard time propagating a coherent corporate culture. But it seems like if you let everyone choose, it'd be 50/50 in-person vs. WFH. So, even if you give your employees full flexibility, you'll still wind up with decently full offices that can train junior people, promulgate a corporate culture, etc.