Why Are We Still Pretending the Office Is Magical?

Let’s just get this out of the way.

Most return-to-office policies aren’t about collaboration, innovation, culture, or whatever today’s buzzword happens to be.

They’re about control.

Managers miss the comfort of the old world. The pre-covid world, wanting to feel like they’re “leading” again. And in their heads, leadership = visibility = bums on seats.

It doesn’t matter that the world’s changed, or that their top performers are now living 300 miles away and crushing it. No, they want the warm, fuzzy feeling of walking into an open-plan office and seeing productivity.

That’s not strategy. That’s nostalgia. And in 2025, it’s getting embarrassing.

Let’s look at the standard list of excuses being wheeled out to justify return-to-office mandates. You’ve probably heard them in some variation already.

“We collaborate better in person”

This sounds nice. It’s just rarely true.

What people actually mean is: we didn’t know how to collaborate properly remotely, so we’re dragging everyone back to the office to cover for poor process and lazy leadership.

Real collaboration isn’t about proximity. It’s about clarity, communication, and the right tools. If your team can’t figure out how to problem-solve unless they’re breathing the same air, you’ve got bigger issues.

“It’s better for our culture”

Nope. That’s not how culture works.

Culture isn’t ping-pong tables and all-hands meetings. It’s not how many hours you spend in the same building. It’s how people treat each other when no one’s watching. It’s trust, autonomy, shared values, and clarity of purpose. And you can build (and destroy) all of that just as easily over Zoom as you can in a WeWork.

If your culture dies the second people work from home, then you didn’t have a culture in the first place.

“Managers need to spot issues early”

Translation: we don’t trust our managers to manage remotely.

Great managers don’t need to see you at a desk to know you’re doing a good job. They’ve built systems for visibility, not surveillance. They care about outcomes. If your performance model depends on physical presence, you’ve confused activity with impact.

Also: managers aren’t security guards. If their main role is “spotting who looks busy,” maybe it’s time to rework the job description.

“We need it for onboarding and training”

Slightly more valid. Slightly.

Junior team members can definitely benefit from proximity to experienced colleagues, but only if those colleagues actually have the time and willingness to coach. And in most offices, they don’t. They’re busy. They’re in meetings. Or they’re just not that into mentoring.

Structured, thoughtful remote onboarding usually beats the chaotic, inconsistent version that happens in person. You just have to give a damn about doing it properly.

“It builds team bonding”

Sometimes.

But most of the time it just builds resentment.

People don’t bond over shared commutes and awkward chit-chat at the coffee machine. They bond over doing meaningful work, solving hard problems together, and having the freedom to live balanced lives. If you need forced face-time to build “team spirit,” it probably means your work isn’t inspiring enough to rally around.

For me, though, it’s deeper than that. Remote work, when done right, isn’t just about convenience or lifestyle. It’s a competitive advantage.

• Focus. People get actual work done. The kind they were hired for. Without Steve from Sales wandering over to ask if they saw Love Island last night.

• Talent. You’re not fishing in a 20-mile radius anymore. You’re tapping into global markets, new perspectives, and genuinely diverse teams.

• Retention. People with autonomy tend to stick around. They’re less burnt out, less pissed off, and more likely to recommend you to their network.

• Cost. You can reduce your office footprint. Your team saves on travel, childcare, lunches, and stress. Everybody wins.

• Accountability. You can’t hide behind being busy anymore. Remote work forces clarity: clear goals, clear communication, and clear ownership.

But the question remains. Why are companies still pushing the return to office?

Ego. Insecurity. Legacy thinking. And some very expensive office leases that someone doesn’t want to explain to the board.

For every progressive company building for the future (GitLab, Zapier, Deel), there’s a legacy organisation dragging people back under the guise of “team cohesion” when what they really want is to feel important again.

The irony? The companies that trust their people to work how, when, and where they work best are the ones attracting the best talent. They’re building stronger teams. Delivering better results. And they’re not wasting hours every week on pointless commuting.

This isn’t really about office vs remote. That debate’s already been had. This is about whether you lead with trust or control. Whether you measure performance or presence. Whether you’re building for the future.

If you're forcing people back just to feel in control, then the problem isn't remote work. The problem is your leadership.

My opinion, fix that first.

And the hard sell… if you want help building a talent model that actually works in 2025? One that doesn’t depend on how close people sit to each other?

Let’s talk.

I’ll bring the straight-talking and leave the ping-pong bats at home.

About
Martin Dangerfield, Talent Acquisition Strategist. Straight-talker. Community builder.

I help in-house TA teams get better with a combination of sharper strategies, smarter hiring, and no-nonsense support. Since selling my business, I have been helping to grow the rec hub in it’s global mission to deliver an amazing embedded recruitment solution. I’ve built TA teams from scratch, scaled global functions, sold a business, and consult on all things talent acquisition.

I run #truManchester and #truLeeds because I believe the best ideas don’t come from panels, they come from people talking honestly in a room. I’m not here for buzzwords or silver bullets.

I’m here to help TA people do the job properly.

South African-born, UK-based, and European in perspective, I’m Gen X, proud of it, and not afraid to say what others won’t.

This is the work I care about. If you care too, stick around.