Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman stated at the time that the company would need “much less real estate” in the future. Barclays CEO Jes Staley said, “The idea of cramming 7,000 people into a building might be over.” And at Goldman Sachs, working from home was referred to as “the new normal.” Many colleagues—including some German CEOs—adopted these statements verbatim at the time. Not me. From the very beginning, I was convinced that permanent remote work isn’t a solution. Not for corporate culture, not for innovation, not for people who want to build something together.

I was ridiculed for this—“old-school,” “not modern,” “going against the trend.” Today, five years later, these very same corporations are pulling the plug themselves: Goldman Sachs is requiring five days in the office again. Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank, at least four. Volkswagen, Telekom, Mercedes—they’re all scaling back.

I don’t follow bankers’ slogans, fashion trends, or headlines. I prefer to analyze what such issues really do to a company—to teams, ideas, energy, and results. The future doesn’t belong to trends, but to substance. And substance is created where people sit together at a table.