19 replies to this topic

[Hum]

Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer has decided that the company will no longer abide by its long-standing practice of using employees who telecommute to work each day.

Putting an end to pajama-clad employees working from the comfort of their own living rooms, the new policy is set to go into effect in June. News of the sea change was delivered in a memo sent by Jackie Reses, Yahoo!’s head of human resources.

“To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side,” the memo stated. “That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices. Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings.”

A source said to be familiar with Mayer’s decision to place a stop sign on the company’s telecommuting superhighway told Business Insider that employees had been abusing the privilege of working at home and that it was hurting productivity.

Mayer also came to the conclusion that forcing employees into the company’s offices would also thin Yahoo!’s bloated ranks, Business Insider reported, and bring it in line with other Silicon Valley tech firms that do not have nearly as many telecommuting employees.

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[n_K]

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[Growled]

A good decision, I think. You lose so much allowing workers to work from home, at least full time. I've never been a fan of it.

[warwagon]

Growled, on 27 February 2013 - 02:40, said:

A good decision, I think. You lose so much allowing workers to work from home, at least full time. I've never been a fan of it.

I love working from home

[Xalman Xhan]

I would say, its not a good move. Companies like Yahoo can save big dollars on construction, leases and property taxes, since they may no longer need to build or rent larger offices or parking lots when they expand. Moreover, they can attract employees from a larger geography and retain top talent who—for whatever reason—can’t travel to the office every day.

This article explains telecommuting and what benefits telecommuting offers, and how cloud can effectively support remote employees:

http://www.dincloud....emote-employees

[Mathachew]

I've telecommuted for most of the last nine years and wouldn't change it at all. Beats the heck out of driving an hour to an hour and a half one way each day. With my kids, I'm able to see them more, even if it's just when I'm getting a refill of water or lunch. From my current and previous employers perspective, I've worked out great as a telecommuting employee because I continually produce at a high level, which sounds like was not the case for a lot of Yahoo employees.

On the flip side, not going to an office everyday (or at all in my case), does have some drawbacks. Some of Yahoo's reasons are perfectly valid, but conference calls and group or one on one IMs can accomplish a great deal.

[FloatingFatMan]

We have a guy in our office who telecommutes one day a week, who just happens to be our head DBA (we're a software house). For that day, we pretty much presume he's skiving off for the day as it's a total waste of time trying to get him to do ANYthing. He's always either "too busy", or just doesn't answer on Communicator.

[Hum]

I met a lady today, who was 'telecommuting' from McDonald's -- due to the snow.

[Richteralan]

Telecommuting does has its pros. Huge pros.

But too many people actually ABUSING working from home. That's the problem.

[Hum]

Seems to me that your job isn't very important if you can telecommute.

[Mikeffer]

Hum, on 06 March 2013 - 16:45, said:

Seems to me that your job isn't very important if you can telecommute.

Maybe you should telecommute from the dark ages to the the real modern world eh?

I work from home (telecommuting is one of those modern phrases that really irks me) for a handful of Media organisations and so long as you have all the right software and guidelines in place, it works flawlessly. If Yahoo! really think they were having a problem then they really weren't doing it right in the first place.

Working from home = greater productivity and is more efficient both financially and in terms of work done.

[Richteralan]

Hum, on 06 March 2013 - 16:45, said:

Seems to me that your job isn't very important if you can telecommute.

lolwut

[+remixedcat]

For one thing working from home it's better for the environment. Less emissions. Also with this crappy move some people would have 1.5hr+ commutes! This move from yahoo,etc would also create more traffic nitemares and problems and also the roads are in bad shape. working from home would cut down on wear-n-tear on vehicles.

For another thing working from home allows more people to still work and support elderly parents, kids, etc. Cuts down on childcare costs massively (hey didn't the chick that runs yahoo now just have a baby so she should understand this).

It also enables people to have jobs that are very talented at what they do but can't move due to family stuff or being tied down to a property they can't sell or whatever.

Also some people are more creative at home. Designers can't get inspiration from bleak cubicles or drab offices. Developers would have more distractions in these open concept offices where there are tons of distractions as well as people wandering by your desk asking "do you like turtles?" "do you like chocolate milk" "oooh! what's that?" "what does this do?" "oh you need to blah blah blah"... every 10 minutes... would you be able to code an application a fortune 500 relies on or software that runs critical stuff in a crazy environment like that??

Poo Poo on yahoo for doing this. They are on the way out like myspace anyways.

[FloatingFatMan]

remixedcat, on 07 March 2013 - 05:02, said:

For another thing working from home allows more people to still work and support elderly parents, kids, etc. Cuts down on childcare costs massively (hey didn't the chick that runs yahoo now just have a baby so she should understand this).

Your employer isn't paying you to look after kids or parents etc, they're paying you to work for them. if you're not, you're abusing the trust they put on you (and this is what a LOT of homeworkers do), and it's one of the main reasons why they're dropping it.

remixedcat, on 07 March 2013 - 05:02, said:

Also some people are more creative at home. Designers can't get inspiration from bleak cubicles or drab offices. Developers would have more distractions in these open concept offices where there are tons of distractions as well as people wandering by your desk asking "do you like turtles?" "do you like chocolate milk" "oooh! what's that?" "what does this do?" "oh you need to blah blah blah"... every 10 minutes... would you be able to code an application a fortune 500 relies on or software that runs critical stuff in a crazy environment like that??

Poo Poo on yahoo for doing this. They are on the way out like myspace anyways.

I work in an open plan office, for a software developer.. We have none of the "problems" you mention above. It's a largely quiet office where for the most part, people get on with their work. People do chat, but that's just normal and to be encouraged as everyone needs a few minutes downtime every now and then.

The one homeworker we have, who home works 1 day a week, we essentially consider him to just not be working that day.

[Dushmany]

A sad day
I wish I could work from home, think of the overtime drinking beer. (if I drank)
(although technically as a truck driver, I'm not sure how work from home would work out )