Have you considered that it might be a self correcting problem ?
The 2 hours you save by not commuting can be used to join a local running club. Suddenly you’re meeting a lot of new people you would have never met before.
Also, in my current company (many people WFH, at least partly), actually several couples formed because people meet at the seminars, at a time there is no stress related to work, in a relaxed setting. So remote work can be suitable for this too with the right ingredients. The company was not as remote as today before covid, but has been spread across two countries (mostly) for years so this is similar in this respect since the couples are mostly people from the two countries.
I've also built friendships from by previous work, when I was at the office, so this is also true.
I'm sure with time I'll make long lasting relationships at my current company too. We are already happy to see each others when it happens.
I think the social contact aspect is only an issue if you don’t understand or avail the new opportunities you have.
We’ve been WFO for so long, some folks are struggling to adjust to this new reality. That’s understandable !
Overall the people who do these extra-curricular activities will probably continue to do so, but other people may not be any more inclined.
It sounds like this is the actual problem you need to address.
> extra-curricular activities
There is no curriculum at work. Socialising isn’t exclusive to the work place. There are ample opportunities to meet people outside of the office.
It requires a small shift in our thinking because WFO is soo ingrained in us, we get confused once it’s not mandated. That doesn’t mean social contact is not easily within reach.
My point is you’re not stripped of every opportunity to socialise if you choose to go remote, and it’s entirely feasible to replace the loss of office based social interaction with some other social interaction.
This is separate from my belief that friendships form via shared context not shared activities: https://billmei.net/blog/friendship
Or the social activities they might enjoy, involve some skill prerequisite they don’t have, or time commitments they can’t keep.
Essentially, if someone was already a social person and had existing social groups for those hobbies that the office commute interfered with, then wfh was a gift.
But for those who enjoy their job, and enjoyed in-office collaboration, there is going to be a lot of effort and several prerequisites required to attempt to replace that outside the office.
