Real reasons why tech giants are hugging “Remote Work”

This 100%. But also - my own economic ideology position is that employees should be as self-empowered as possible. If your employer owns all your tools, your workspace, your IP, etc. then they completely control your access to the labour market. The means of production should be as widely distributed as possible to prevent huge power imbalance in favour of employers. Remote Work will mean that people can move companies easily (which means putting up with less shit since you can just move), be setup for freelance work already if they need extra income or want a break from working for somebody else, can learn more about their toolset due to being responsible for setting up an environment to work from home, etc. While there are some downsides, I think this is an overall positive.

Even if you personally are capable of enforcing work/life separation there's zero chance an entire company will when so many people already fear the Performance Review looming over their head.

Do you really think this will "relieve" anything except push the problem onto other cities that also refuse to build? (And will inevitably push out people who already had to leave the big city due to the cost)

I went remote a few years ago, and last year, without even asking permission, I dropped the lease on my overpriced DC tiny condo and moved a few hours away where rent is half the price, and eventually I'll buy a real home for half the cost of DC.

While I definitely had more opportunities to network and hobnob with management while in the office, the reality is it didn't matter in the long run. My salary hasn't gone down since moving, and I save money on tolls, lunches, gas, and now especially rent which is pretty significant.

As a developer, I've never once been offered any sort of 'path' to anything other than continued code grinding and JIRA tasks. At best, I'm often give pseudo-promotions to 'team-lead' which includes more work on my end for no extra compensation, respect, or authority.

There are so many people who CANNOT code, I've never seen any company I worked for helping their developers move towards the business or management teams. In fact, it's almost as if they actively oppose it and gatekeep any knowledge that's related to sales, customers, revenue, etc. After all, what would they be needed for, if we could do their jobs, too? And if we knew what value we provided, we might get a bit more uppity when it came time for raises and bonuses.

Furthermore, most jobs of mine last less than 4 years or so, and if you don't move on you're not getting raises, nor are you accumulating more required buzzwords for the resume.

I kind of gave up on moving up the corporate ranks into a management or more respected, higher paid position years ago, and now I play for myself. That means I continue to accumulate money in investments, and hopefully, by about 45, I won't depend on any company's promises or continued raises, and instead can opt out of the corporate system, go live on a beach, and start my own small business. The odds that the stock market will continue paying 8% are far more likely than any company I end up working for will provide opportunities for more pay, authority, and respect, especially for engineers, regardless of how good of friends I am with management or happy hours I attend with them.