Biggest take away here is that working hard pays off. Not a huge surprise, but it does seem like our industry has forgotten that. The increasing acceptance of allowing remote work is a contributing factor. Many remote people are great, but not everyone should be allowed to do it.
I've spent almost my whole career as a remote worker. You're definitely right that not everyone can handle it, but my experience is that most of the time, unproductive remote workers get cut much faster than their co-located counterparts.
We all know people who are allowed to coast solely because they're friendly with a lot of people in the office. Many employees depend heavily on this halo effect, and expect to be able to wink and nod their way out of what is sometimes sickening incompetence -- and the kicker is that much of the time, this works well.
It's psychologically easier for people to trim non-productive remote workers because there is no physical absence to miss, and the people in the company are less likely to have a deep personal bond forged over years of lunch breaks and the like. It's a purer professional context, at least as far as our profession is concerned.
Declaring yourself a remote worker is a declaration that your work product stands on its own as a representation of the value you provide, and that you don't need to depend on niceties like "he tells really funny jokes by the water cooler" to stay employed.
