I’d question how much cost savings there is. Maybe in the highest cost areas. But, leaving aside the implications of hiring people in lower cost areas and paying them less, it wouldn’t surprise me if additional travel costs for team meetings etc. balanced out the cost of a desk. A fair number of remote workers also get their companies to pay for coworking spaces.
Personal anecdata, but I've expensed only £120 in train travel in the last 2 years, and my employer doesn't pay for/subsidise coworking. Obviously it'll depend on company policy, but my benefits expectations with my current employer are minuscule to start with, so don't need any additional sweeteners over and above agile working to balance out.
It’s fairly common and probably a good practice for distributed teams to get together F2F a couple of times a year. The broader team I’m on does this. We’re spread around NA and Europe mostly with a combination of WFH, offices, and hybrids.
