Yahoo Chief bans Home Working – does she have a point?

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It’s being widely reported Yahoo’s chief executive Marissa Mayer recently issued an edict that staff are no longer allowed to work from home. An internal memo, allegedly from HR was received by staff instructing those who work from home will be expected to relocate to the nearest office. The memo has been quoted as saying that being part of a company means being ‘Physically together’. It also claims that when staff work from home it can harm both speed and quality.

As you can imagine this has sparked huge debate amongst pretty much everyone with bloggers and various websites reacting with astonishment at the decision. Easy Offices has blogged previously about the increases in not only home working but remote working utilising ‘touchdown’ areas or hot desks, enabling staff to work in a more fluid solution that today’s technology allows.

There are also strong arguments suggesting that it’s actually vital for certain staff to get out of the office or to spend time in more creative environments especially if their jobs or responsibilities require unorthodox or ‘out of the box’ thinking. Any change in routine can reinvigorate or enliven staff, today’s workplace seemingly is about creating an environment that works for the staff and the company where working solutions are fluid yet at the same time productive.

It seems incredible to us that in 2013 any company would make such a statement to staff but when it’s one of the biggest, technology, internet based companies it’s all the more incredible.

What do you think?

Are we returning to an era of Managers ‘chaining’ their staff to desks whilst the office clock slowly ticks or do we live in a slightly more enlightened age?

Do you have home workers or remote workers and if so how do you monitor their work and productivity?

Let us know your thoughts, this debate is sure to rage on for a while yet!

2 thoughts on “Yahoo Chief bans Home Working – does she have a point?”

  1. Wow – I definitely wouldn’t want to work for them! Can’t believe this decision – totally goes against what virtually every other company in the world is doing. Chaining staff to their desk is a thing of the past or so I thought!

  2. Quite agree Tim! Hard to believe as you say & then when you consider the fact that they’re an Internet / Technology company!

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