While I understand the point of the article, I do not believe it takes into account large organizations where many of your counterparts/ colleagues are in other regions or locations. Especially where departments are smaller and there may be only one or two with that specialty in a specific office or region. Really that lends itself to the same conundrum.  Also, many positions (sales, client-facing, etc.) positions are traveling as much as being home-based/ office-based. Collaboration can occur in many types of venue with increased web capacities (Skype, Webcams, etc.). Really it takes on-hands on involvement no matter where you are located. People are busy with deadlines and meetings; being available in an office doesn’t guarantee collaboration only provides a medium for impromptu situations.

Somebody ought to be able to design a home "workplace" (e.g. a computer application) that will allow regular interaction between members of the workforce. If the work can be done at home, though, it should be done at home. Commuting adds no value for the customer or employer, and it is time for which the employee is not paid. (I know of no one who gets paid for time spent driving, or taking public transportation, to and from work).

In addition, with all the talk about the need to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions, commuting should be required only when a person's physical presence is required--e.g. you can't run a machine tool, or measure the product with a gage, from home. If you're an executive, you can't do a gemba walk from home, although somebody ought to be able to come up with a drone--possibly one that walks--that you can use from home to walk around a factory to "go and see." (Quite useful if you are on the other side of the world.)

Speaking of which, it is in fact possible (with multimillion dollar equipment) for a surgeon to operate on a patient by remote control. This means the doctor can serve far more patients while charging less per patient, as he is not wasting his time by commuting, and the patients do not have to spend a lot of money to travel for the operation.

I noticed, by the way, that the attendees at the latest climate conference are flying in on private planes, thus spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If they really believed carbon emissions were a problem, they would set an example by holding a virtual meeting online.