The executive imagines the meetings they missed, leading to lost opportunities. So they see a loss of productivity.

This is a fantastic point, and one I had not considered.

From this standpoint, the side pushing for return to office really does feel like they’re in the right. I think I would argue that a subset of those folks are still pushing a return for the wrong reasons (e.g. thinking that remote work lowers productivity naturally, not just based on an observation of their own missed meetings or face time), but otherwise I agree entirely.