It didn't take too long before most of us figured out that zoom calls were an effective, yet far from perfect substitute for face-to-face meetings. A study of tens of thousands of Microsoft employees revealed that while productivity went up for many tasks when working from home, it seems to negatively impact long-term creativity.
I've heard so many people saying they would never return to the office and others claiming the exact opposite, bosses being antsy to have the whole workforce back to work in person. While the reality of the future of work is likely somewhere in between, there is clearly no one-size-fits-all approach, but if there is one thing to remember, it is this: for architects and designers, having face to face interactions with co-workers and clients is critical to a project's success, as problem-solving is a major part of the job and that's hard to do on zoom if you need to look a plans, discuss around a physical model or quickly find a solution while walking a construction site.
The long-intuited idea that face-to-face conversations are best is again vindicated and while you may see that your office works well remotely, be wary of the long-term effects that it may have on our inherently creative industry. A few bucks saved may have unintended consequences indeed.