I wasn't able to find anything to either support or refute what you said.

On one hand, there's a poll that said 58% of respondents admit to ghostwork:

https://www.resume-now.com/job-resources/careers/ghostworkin...

But how many people sit at a desk or office idly to keep up appearances? That's so common its a trope.

Gallup has some interesting polls, they highlight manager engagement as the #1 link to employee engagement:

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-...

and

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/697904/state-of-the-global-...

Expectations on some remote work remain stable since 2023:

https://www.gallup.com/401384/indicator-hybrid-work.aspx

My speculation and experience at what's going on between the cracks since we're just talking:

-Leadership skills and leadership positions are woefully not 1:1 (lot of bad leaders out there)

-Leaders have to work a bit harder to make sure hybrid works well, whereas all onsite or all remote tend to naturally keep things more in sync with "one way to do things", this goes poorly with empty suits in leadership roles

-Enough people want better work-life that they dig in and treat remote work as birthright, this can drive anecdotes you see in the CEO-level rags when they clash with meh or worse leaders

-Employee perks like remote work don't always = ROI or better company outcomes, and vice versa