In the years after the epidemic lockdown the RTO mandates started coming hard and fast, and it was evident for two clear reasons.

a) Upper management was feeling lonely and wanted its entourage back. They feel powerful when they see busy workers being busy for their benefit. See also BULLSHIT JOBS, and...

b) Companies were stuck in leases of expensive business space that was now empty, and that just felt too wasteful, so the vibes solution was RTO mandates.