I get it: It looks like a free lunch.

And for some people perhaps it is.  If your job is just a job, and you're not really after climbing the ladder in the corporate world then it would appear to have little downside.

But it does have downside.

Sure, an employer can (and the smart ones do) measure "metrics" for people working remotely.  Completion time, cases closed, customer satisfaction ratings, listening in on calls and so on.  There are myriad ways to measure performance of a remote employee within their role and most of them work to at least some degree some of the time.

The problem is that you will never, as an employee, "jump the line" in promotions when working remotely.

That's not because there's something unfair at play; it is simply because when you're working remotely you cannot observe other roles in the firm since you're not where they take place and you thus can't demonstrate through initiative and skill that you're not only capable of them -- you are likely to excel if given one.

That is always how you jump the line more than one level in the corporate world within a given company -- you observe, you take the initiative in some form or fashion and you show those more than one level above your current role that you should be given that higher-level job.

To do that you have to be there because its not possible to observe what you can't see simply because you're not there.

At MCSNet the majority of people who wound up with management roles came from straight line-level positions in exactly this fashion.  They observed, they came to a couple-level up person (usually me directly) and through their actions and communicated observations demonstrated they could do that job well above their current level of responsibility.

This is how you go from a line-level hourly worker job to a management role with a salary and, sometimes, an actual office.

It matters not how smart and capable you are if nobody a couple of levels above you can see it.

When you sit at home behind a blinking terminal nobody can see it and much worse you can't see what is going on in the rest of the firm and potentially identify an opportunity to demonstrate superior capability.

That which you cannot observe you cannot act on.

Yes, I get it.  I had plenty of people who worked for me that saw it as "just a job."  Many look at work as, well, work.  Do a job, get a paycheck, that's it.  That's fine, and being in-office is even worse if you're the type to gossip or undermine others because if that describes your behavior to any degree you're far better off where nobody can see that.  That sort of crap is a good way to get passed over.

In short remote work is fine if its just a job -- and you're happy with that.  But if you want remote work and see it as a means to earn a paycheck do realize that while you might get tapped for the next level up in the org chart the odds are ridiculously against you for a two-level or wildly out-of-scope promotion simply because you cannot observe what is going on around you and thus you can't take the initiative and show management two or more levels above you that you ought to be given that superior position because you're not there.

It is precisely that quality -- observation and then initiative which will further the business -- that employers who have some intelligence in their executive suite look for.  It is also how you take your wage and add 50% or even double it in one step instead of another fifty cents or buck an hour a year.

If you demand to work remote you're telling management you're not interested in that.

Choose wisely.