Corporate networks are safer if an end user connects through a VPN connection?

A VPN secures the *path* between the user and the network, not the network's intrinsic security posture or its resilience to threats once access is established.

While a VPN connection encrypts the data traffic between the end user and the corporate network, thereby making the transmission more secure and protecting the user from public network eavesdropping, it does not inherently make the *corporate network* itself safer. The network's internal security relies on its own firewalls, intrusion detection systems, access controls, and endpoint security, regardless of how a user connects.