When videoconferencing specialist Zoom called staff back to the office last month, it was widely interpreted as the disintegration of the remote work experiment. The pro-office message, four years after the pandemic triggered a white-collar retreat, was seized on by Mr Elon Musk, who described it as morally wrong for “laptop classes living in la-la-land” to work from home.

Amazon is tracking attendance and sends e-mails to staff who fail to attend three days a week, while Google says employees’ absence will affect their performance reviews. In Britain, banks including Lloyds Banking Group, Citi and HSBC have taken the September cue to tighten their in-office mandates.