I WFH, every year one of the goals that the rest of the team decides is that it’s “so great” to see each other in person. The past few years haven’t worked out but one did. I spent hours in a couple of airports, the huge expense for the company, I spent days away from my family, and for what? So you could look me in my same face you would see if we turned cameras on every once in a while? My husband says I’m being weird, but I legitimately want to know, what is the benefit? I hate being there and have to play nice so you can…look me even closer in the face?
I share the same opinion as you. My job is mostly remote, but I am required to come to the office (2 hour drive away) once every month or two (which has mostly come down to company meetings once every 2 months).
On the bright side, they book me a hotel room and compensate me for gas and wear-and-tear on my car, but pretty much when I get there, it’s a normal day with a scrum meeting almost first thing, which we do virtually almost always anyways, and then the same work I’d be doing at home, just at a cubicle. We sometimes go out for a group lunch, but most of the time we’re on our own (I don’t really eat lunch so I just grab a coffee), and then we have the company meeting which could 100% just be done virtually. My only real interaction with anyone in the office is greetings when people walk in and that’s pretty much it.
I’m with you, I really don’t see the benefit, and I know I can’t complain much because it’s not very frequent, but it’s still 4 hours of driving (which btw, I think I’m expected to not count as “work time”) and it doesn’t benefit me or anyone else I see anyways.