…only to filter and sensor it, dropping throughput to DSL levels.

I think a lot of this boils down to extroverts’ dependence on external stimuli, especially human interaction, to make them happy and feel self-fulfilled. While not exclusive by any means, it’s extroverts who naturally seek and–arguably–who are good at starting and running businesses. So, there is a bias toward those who are making the call for a return to office–execs–being extroverted by nature. They are confusing consciously or subconsciously the drivers for why workers should return to the office being arguments around productivity rather than their needs and biases.