RTO mandates aren't worth it
It must be true as it’s Gartner. You can’t point at a quadrant and then just dismiss other things.
I’ve been a multi-country and multi-site manager for a long time. No chance you’re all going to be in the same office. You get to know train stations and airports really well.
It’s something that’s been around for many years at scale (in my sectors) and it still had it’s problems and quirks. Video conferencing is certainly better. Some of us remember only having Office Communicator, then Lync, then Skype for Business - all on poor connections (“Yes, you’re sounding like a robot”). But it’s not really new. However, the World changed for a lot more people and it’s new to them.
Some like remote work, some don’t. Be flexible, that’s the key. It certainly opens up a wider pool of talent.
I don’t mind being remote personally, but not all the time. It can make it really hard work looking after teams. Requires extra effort and care with communication (which is not a bad thing). As a Leader, it can also be quite lonely unless you figure out where you can get your own support from.
Maybe that’s the element that’s been missing in discussions?