I have transitioned from a full time office job to a consulting role in the past few years.
The last place where I worked went full remote during COVID. Some people went in...think that had an outsized impact on office politics. people who went in more had the general manager's attention, people who didn't, less so. When a drastic round of restructuring came around, the "high visibility" people were all safe.
Now that Im working with different clients I get to see different work cultures. Think its more of a Latin American thing, but I'm shocked how many companies still have a butt in seats mentality (a client wants to have me on location for their engagement, even though 80% of the sessions could be done remote). I do see some value in face to face meetings occasionally, but most meetings can be held online (also thin that most companies/teams aren't great at running online meetings). There are some type of meetings Ive felt go smoother in person: brainstorming/idea iteration, performance reviews, meeting a client for the first time.
I tend to advise new (as well as young) employees to go into the office a bit more than what's required. Think its really hard to pick up on cultural cues only online.
Finally, in something that as a manager brings me horror, I've seen some cases of fully remote employees who will have two jobs. Totally unprofessional and unethical.