They want you back in the office because the bank profits off of corporate America being in the office. Commissions are down due to property vacancy rates. They full expect attrition and a reduction of productivity. The consultants have warned them about the pros and cons. They believe in the long-term that things will equalize. Plus, when you look at the statistics 90% of the people want to be in the office between 1-3 days per week. It is amazing how many baby boomers are reeling to get back in. Then you have those people who cannot stand being around their families, etc. leave it up to your imagination.
What I find crazy is that they had to change the rules for everyone. Before COVID it was working. However, Charlie's track record as shown at BNY is to force RTO. It failed for him there, but he believes that this makes a company more competitive in the long run. Even Google and Facebook, although delayed, will be back at some point.
The gig is up and we need to emotionally adjust to the temporary changes. We will eventually get back to having remote flexibility.