>Nobody's stopping you from moving closer to the office

the stiff housing market indeed is. You can't buy land that isn't for sale.

Nevermind that most people cannot just up and move whenever their work fancies it. And you don't want to. Too many horror stories of people who moved for their job only to get laid off a few months later. Corporate isn't taking my community with them.

>If the office is in a high-cost-of-living area they have to offer higher salaries to get an equal caliber of workers.

Or they just offshore it.