It wasn't long ago — February 2021, in fact — that Brent Hyder, president and chief people officer at Salesforce declared, "An immersive workspace is no longer limited to a desk in our Towers; the 9-to-5 workday is dead; and the employee experience is about more than ping-pong tables and snacks."

Yeah, about that, co-CEO Marc Benioff said in an internal message to staff that the newest employees aren't productive enough. "Are we not building tribal knowledge with new employees without an office culture?" he said in a message viewed by CNBC. Even with attempts at humor — Benioff reportedly phrased it as "asking for a friend" and added a smiley face with a halo — this type of message from a CEO typically, and generally with good reason, would be received by employees as disapproval of where things have gone.

It's another of the signs that have built over time of tech companies wanting employees back in the office at least a majority of the time. Even though, ironically, many of these companies market their products as enabling remote work. But, for the office sector of CRE, it has to be welcome news for two reasons. One, the tech industrial leases a lot of space and knowing that they might want to go back to the good old days of mostly in-office work has to be a relief. Second, that industry has been a leader in expectations of benefits and perks. If they pull back, many other businesses have an argument to do the same thing.