> Shouldn't we trust that the execs

No.

> can see productivity metrics that aren't available to the public

I am an employee of a company claiming my productivity is higher in the office. Nobody has ever shown me anything even remotely resembling a productivity metric. They haven’t even tried.

Productivity metrics are a holy grail. If any company created one that works they’d be bragging about it endlessly to shareholders and correlating it with the enormous profits they’d be generating.

If they have one that works I’d like to see it so I can use it to measure changes in my daily habits and further increase my productivity.

Since they can’t articulate this metric at all I can only conclude that it doesn’t exist.

With how contentious RTO has been why haven’t the advocates published data on how big of a boost it has been to their KPIs?

> Unless you think all RTO is a conspiracy.

It’s possible RTO is just regular old incompetence. No need for conspiracy theories.