Back in the real world, working from home finds little support among both employees and employers in most industries.
Many employers feel that working from home is not "real work" if they can not see the worker at a desk.
Many employees fear that if THEY can work from home, that perhaps the work could be done by someone in Calcutta working from their home, for perhaps 10% of the salary.
With respect, I think you're "real world" view comes from a different age (or at least half a generation, anyway)
I work from home, from the office, from Customer sites (all over the
UK▸ ) and my employer doesn't really care where I am as long as the work gets done and I am contactable.
BTW▸ , my employer employs around 10,000 people in the Bangalore area alone, and the competition for good people out there has been driving salaries up for some years now.
I would also, genuinely, say that I am more productive at home - although (as others have said) I enjoy the social interaction of going to the office, and also completely agree with what eightonedee said. It's a matter of finding the right balance.