mrwzy

"Whether the house we live in is 300 or 3000 sq ft - loneliness is the same" is quite profound.

This.

But I also then get the time back to spend with loved ones, and/or on fitness/hobbies/interests/sleep.

Yes. We did. But it seems to be back now.

The music theory behind sea shanties

What is your objective?

There is no right answer, having a think about what your objective is, and what you want to achieve - may help making the decision easier; or at least provide a guiding light.

On the topic of

General Management - High Output Management by Andrew Grove

Visibility and Alignment - Measure What Matters by John Doerr

Understanding People and Teams - Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson

Hire people who are ok without a social workplace

>> Local support system: If the only support system someone has is their work one, then being in a remote environment will likely make them go crazy. You need people who have outside support systems so they have people they can interact with on a daily/weekly basis.

I found this really interesting. We've been a "remote first" company for about 2 years now, after being a non-remote company for the prior 3 years to this. Initially, the feedback on remote was great from employees. However, more recently the feedback from 1 on 1s is that "It's not as fun anymore", "I miss the <buzz about the office> <going out for lunch> <random nights out> with colleagues ", from certain people. I think these people fall into this category of not having a strong social life / support group outside of workmates.