My own opinion is that the 5 days/week RTO cr-p was implemented because the VP of Sales decided it was a "good idea" to do last August. Thanks buddy. Dell then decided to follow suit for a few reasons.
A) They are paying a lot of rent, elec bills, etc... for buildings to be empty - so they want to feel as if they aren't just wasting money on empty buildings.
B) Dell wants to be under 80k employees at some point so, what better way to get people to quit than enforce this RTO policy? Along with no promotions if you aren't going into office and are full remote... They basically said FU-K YOU to anybody who isn't near an office. "Have fun never being promoted!" But, we aren't going to help you relocate either!
C) JC and MD are sheep. Lets be real though, MD isn't doing sh-t at Dell. He's the face and voice of Dell but ultimately, he's not REALLY calling the shots. Either way, they just do what everybody else is "doing" with no care in the world about the employees. Whatever makes them the most money is all they care about.
D) It's what "all the other companies are doing." - It'd be one thing if they required a 3 day in office week but 5? Dell has ALWAYS been 3 days in 2 days at home. Why 5 days all of a sudden? Where tf did that come from?