Beginner Gardening: Will severely pruned arborvitae ever regrow?, 1 by bjhibberd

bjhibberd wrote:
Last summer I had a landscaping person prune my arborvitae. They had become too large for the location (builder planted 10 ft plants in a 3 ft space and I had let them go "natural" because I dislike the formal garden look, not realizing they would get so large.) The landscaper use hedge trimmers and cut them back so far that on the sides there is NO greenery. In my ignorance, I accepted the assurance that the plants would grow back. It's been almost a year and, while the places that were already green (like the top) have new growth, the sides are still bare wood.

Can anyone tell me if it's futile to wait for these to grow back and if I should just chop them out and plant new?
See picture of most offensive of the bunch (there are 6 in total)--it looks like a "flat top haircut"!

Thanks