I read quite a lot of studies that suggest that remote working did not and does not, negatively impact productivity.
However, I am sceptical.
The studies are generally of 2 types.
The first set are studies that essentially consist of questionnaires asking employees if they have been less productive whilst working from home. Not surprisingly, they say ‘No’.
The other set are ‘technical studies’ which purport to show that remote employees spend as much time on their computers, make as many keystrokes and so on.
Neither of these measure outputs or achievements …. surely the only thing that really matter.
So where you look at such studies, read them carefully to see what was measured.