I just switched to ArcGIS Pro and cannot figure out how to get the tabs I want to show up in the ribbon. There don't seem to be any instructions for how to do this on the ESRI website. In particular, I'd like the map tab to display when I'm in layout view.
I agree that it would be nice to have and frustrating that the layout view prohibits access to most controls. The ribbon is just not a good idea for GIS work, at least in its current implementation. I've gone so far as to put nearly everything I use regularly on the Quick Access toolbar but even this is still an inefficient and disorganized way to work, and I still find that some commands are unnecessarily grayed out when on the layout view.
A workaround I found is to duplicate the map tab by creating a new custom tab with all of the same groups and buttons. Then you can hide the default map tab by unchecking the box next to that tab in the list on the right side of the customize ribbon dialog box.