I sort of agree. We (small startup) went fully remote with COVID and remain so. Work communication is fine, but socializing doesn't happen the way it did at the office. It works okay because most of us had already been working together at the office, but it's harder for new hires, and especially for young junior-level engineers without much experience (i.e., fresh out of college). Hasn't worked well for interns either. But for older, experienced, workers who are able to communicate effectively online and would much rather not be bothered to go into an office, it works well.
We haven't tried hybrid but I don't really see the benefits of it. One big advantage of remote is being able to hire people in other locations. The only way I could see hybrid being useful would be to provide a work space for people who want to work away from home (i.e., for variety or because their house isn't conducive to it), and let those who prefer to work from home (i.e., parents with young kids who need a more flex schedule) do so without set office day requirements (or very few).
In the book "A year without pants" by Scott Berkun where he spends a year with Wordpress and their then somewhat unique remote model, he emphasizes that it's still important for many to meet, it's just not necessary every day. I've worked remotely for almost 20 years and I believe quite strongly that remote companies often underestimate the importance of actually meeting occasionally, maybe every 3-6 months. Maybe importance is too strong, maybe it's just fun to meet up every now and then and share some adventures.
We haven't tried hybrid but I don't really see the benefits of it. One big advantage of remote is being able to hire people in other locations. The only way I could see hybrid being useful would be to provide a work space for people who want to work away from home (i.e., for variety or because their house isn't conducive to it), and let those who prefer to work from home (i.e., parents with young kids who need a more flex schedule) do so without set office day requirements (or very few).