Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

That now strongly depends on the job profile or the exact job description. A call center agent who is supposed to operate the hotline, of course, cannot just go shopping in between (outside of the planned break time). But an office worker who only handles "cases" (i.e., has asynchronous tasks and processing), why should they have to adhere to specific working hours? The same goes for software developers. So apart from deadlines and general processing times per task, it doesn't matter to me as an employer whether the work is done from 7 am to 3 pm or from 12 pm to 8 pm, as long as my goals are achieved overall. Performance evaluation based on attendance is from the penultimate century. In the end, it is actually an excuse for poor management. If, as a manager, you cannot tell by other means that the employee is not performing, then you as a manager have failed. In that case, it is actually the training of the managers that is required as an employer, not the cancellation of [HO].

Of course, the employee gains more flexibility from this. However, from an employer’s perspective, I can understand why the tech companies want to bring their employees back to the offices.
Hand on heart: Do you work more or less when working from home? Yes, often about the same amount of time because you don’t have the commute, but actually just as productive? I sometimes catch myself getting distracted more easily because the opportunity is there – at work, you’re at work; apart from briefly chatting with colleagues, there isn’t much to distract you.

This is based on that 1980s managerial mindset that people sitting at a computer in the office are automatically working.
Best to block everything except the intranet in the browser; that will motivate employees to be even more productive.
Relics from the economic Stone Age are precisely the reason why the shift to home office here only needed a lockdown to be forcefully demonstrated.

Why should one be more productive in a place where personal interactions impose themselves, than alone at home?

Nothing used to cost me more productivity than being thrown out of the work tunnel because colleagues wanted something.

(ok, on the other hand, I’m doing something now that completely excludes the work tunnel. Find the contradiction).

Honestly, I don't understand that.. You could also schedule appointments at the company for 5 pm and start work later that day.

You are much more flexible at home, you don't have working hours from 7 to 3:30 pm, but can work 1 hour early, then have breakfast with the kids, work a few hours again, dig up the garden, do school stuff with the kids, go shopping...., and work the remaining time in the evening. If you want.

Is it like that with you, that everyone wants permanent home office? With us, it’s quite different (IT), most at least partially (and many gladly on a permanent basis), and even those who prefer the office occasionally take the opportunity to work from home. But there are definitely some who prefer to be in the office, at least partially. When the office is moved home, there can also be more space needed, and at home it doesn’t necessarily mean uninterrupted. Even though I appreciate the flexibility of home office, I found it easier to switch off after work when I was in the office. In that sense, I notice that I sometimes feel better if I’ve been to the office, and I try to keep that at least 1-2 days. Not because the employer wants it, but because I want it. I’ve heard similar from a few other colleagues (even though, as I said, there are certainly some who are super happy with 100% home office).

In my opinion, forcing employers to do home office could backfire, aka the employer demands that you work from home because there’s no space in the office (or the space is too expensive), etc. And I don’t know what to make of that.

So I’m also for “prefer promoting rather than prescribing.”

Very mixed. Hardly anyone finds 100% remote work truly good with us, and we have full freedom to organize. If so, it is those who have long commutes and therefore save significant time and money. This aspect outweighs other negative consequences of permanent remote work for these individuals. However, most voluntarily come in 1-2 days a week.