Ditch the crap working conditions and go back to 1-2 person offices with doors. With some form of sound isolation as this is a business that demands concentration. And as in the dorm, closed door means don’t knock. Open door come on in.
And why is WFH unsustainable? I’m a developer. Somewhat introverted. I have an office set up at home with a door and a good internet connection. Productivity has been great and it’s more comfortable than commuting. If we needed to get people who worked in the office we would have a reduced recruiting radius
"Interestingly, when we went fully remote for the most part, that metric actually got better. People were working longer hours, leaning in more, and so productivity has got better for a lot of people."
Sure productivity as a term can be used in many nuances but I think the only really valid definition of productivity is the one where you just drop the "especially" from this, i.e. efficient production:
The rate at which goods or services are produced especially output per unit of labor.
And working from home I can be efficiently productive. I can do things in less than half the time that would've taken 'forever' in an office environment with all its distractions. The only thing missing now is working 75% of the time for the same pay and benefits (also see the Ask HN on that topic) and being able to work with like minded people only. If you're working with lots of senior developers that are also on fully remove 75% time that would be a vastly different experience than being forced into 100% time and having to work with (I have to unfortunately say it) cringeworthily slow people.
I miss some of the social aspects of working in the office: trying a new restaurant with coworkers, discussing weird books and movies, stock ideas, etc. Actually working in the office? Not so much.
My team just does a weekly virtual meeting specifically for those social aspects, we could discuss anything in those meetings but it usually turns into TV, games or movies. As well as occasionally doing office appropriate games like Jackbox and Mario Kart. That might potentially help you and it helps morale and creates team bonding.
And why is WFH unsustainable? I’m a developer. Somewhat introverted. I have an office set up at home with a door and a good internet connection. Productivity has been great and it’s more comfortable than commuting. If we needed to get people who worked in the office we would have a reduced recruiting radius