Why did these articles keep showing up?
The media isn't a shadowy conspiracy run by a cabal, but the big players in business and politics do, I think, like to encourage certain useful narratives. Return-to-office is a big one now. Quiet quitting was all the rage this time last year. And I think “Millennials want meaning, not money” was in fashion ten to fifteen years ago.
And why would anyone care? Because it's a belief that helps justify not bothering to increase wages.