"The Office" that existed before COVID no longer exists. It's impossible to return to it.
Albeit open-plan, relatively quiet has been replaced with just a bunch of people on teams/zoom calls talking loudly, whilst the constraint to meetings that physical meeting rooms provided has disappeared.
I first joined the corporate world in 2018. (previously, I worked in government) I was absolutely shocked by my first job; the open office was incredibly loud, and we'd get on Zoom calls while sitting next to each other in the open room. I wouldn't be able to talk correctly as my own voice would play itself back to me from my coworker's mic. There was so much cross-talk and noise I could barely get any work done. We had a couple offices at this company, and one was somewhat near an outdoor diesel generator, which would flood the office with diesel fumes when it ran weekly for maintenance.
I have no idea what the hell the business owners were thinking, but working there was one of my worst jobs I've ever had.
Albeit open-plan, relatively quiet has been replaced with just a bunch of people on teams/zoom calls talking loudly, whilst the constraint to meetings that physical meeting rooms provided has disappeared.