Yahoo CEO Demands Telecommuters Report To The Office
Jeanwah
Posts: 6,363
This CEO is undoubtedly shooting herself in the foot with this one. Talk about a tech company going backward...
http://money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post ... 63587a5b39
Yahoo's Mayer: Bashed for her telecommuting policy
The CEO gave employees an ultimatum: Work in the office -- or quit. Now she's coming under fire for an 'awful' call.
When Yahoo (YHOO -2.31%) last year tapped Marissa Mayer as its new chief executive, many thought the 37-year-old (who was a mom-to-be at the time) would prove a champion of working parents. But with Mayer's recent ultimatum that telecommuters need to either come into the office or quit, some of her one-time fans are turning on her.
Many comments on Twitter reflect disappointment with her stance: Her policy is "awful for ALL workers" and "[t]his woman is RIDICULOUS!" are among the tweets sent by irate consumers, some of whom had expressed previous support for her.
Mayer's new policy was leaked on Friday, when The Wall Street Journal published a memo that it said was disclosed by "a plethora of very irked Yahoo employees."
Sent by the company's human resources chief, the memo said, "We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together." It added, "Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home."
The reason for the policy change was that Yahoo found many of its telecommuters weren't productive, according to Business Insider. Many of them were depicted as hiding out, with Yahoo apparently unaware that some still worked for the company, the story adds. These hidden telecommuters reportedly worked in divisions ranging from marketing to engineering.
Regardless of Yahoo's situation with its telecommuters, Mayer's new policy is striking many one-time fans as, well, backwards.
More Americans are working from home than ever before, with a Census Bureau report from last year finding that 13.4 million people work from home. That represents a jump of 41% in a decade.
Many technology companies are big supporters of telecommuting, according to Fortune. Among those are Cisco Systems (CSCO -1.15%), with 90% of its workforce counted as "regular" telecommuters, and Intel (INTC -0.93%), with 81% of its employees counted as often working from home.
It's no coincidence that many tech companies support telecommuting: San Francisco, home to the tech industry, is one of the worst U.S. cities for traffic.
At least one rival is taking advantage of Mayer's gaffe, reports the Journal.
WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg wrote a pitch for working at his telecommuting-friendly company in the comments section of the article. He wrote, "For anyone who enjoys working from wherever they like in the world, and is interested in WordPress, Automattic is 100% committed to being distributed. 130 of our 150 people are outside of San Francisco."
http://money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post ... 63587a5b39
Yahoo's Mayer: Bashed for her telecommuting policy
The CEO gave employees an ultimatum: Work in the office -- or quit. Now she's coming under fire for an 'awful' call.
When Yahoo (YHOO -2.31%) last year tapped Marissa Mayer as its new chief executive, many thought the 37-year-old (who was a mom-to-be at the time) would prove a champion of working parents. But with Mayer's recent ultimatum that telecommuters need to either come into the office or quit, some of her one-time fans are turning on her.
Many comments on Twitter reflect disappointment with her stance: Her policy is "awful for ALL workers" and "[t]his woman is RIDICULOUS!" are among the tweets sent by irate consumers, some of whom had expressed previous support for her.
Mayer's new policy was leaked on Friday, when The Wall Street Journal published a memo that it said was disclosed by "a plethora of very irked Yahoo employees."
Sent by the company's human resources chief, the memo said, "We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together." It added, "Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home."
The reason for the policy change was that Yahoo found many of its telecommuters weren't productive, according to Business Insider. Many of them were depicted as hiding out, with Yahoo apparently unaware that some still worked for the company, the story adds. These hidden telecommuters reportedly worked in divisions ranging from marketing to engineering.
Regardless of Yahoo's situation with its telecommuters, Mayer's new policy is striking many one-time fans as, well, backwards.
More Americans are working from home than ever before, with a Census Bureau report from last year finding that 13.4 million people work from home. That represents a jump of 41% in a decade.
Many technology companies are big supporters of telecommuting, according to Fortune. Among those are Cisco Systems (CSCO -1.15%), with 90% of its workforce counted as "regular" telecommuters, and Intel (INTC -0.93%), with 81% of its employees counted as often working from home.
It's no coincidence that many tech companies support telecommuting: San Francisco, home to the tech industry, is one of the worst U.S. cities for traffic.
At least one rival is taking advantage of Mayer's gaffe, reports the Journal.
WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg wrote a pitch for working at his telecommuting-friendly company in the comments section of the article. He wrote, "For anyone who enjoys working from wherever they like in the world, and is interested in WordPress, Automattic is 100% committed to being distributed. 130 of our 150 people are outside of San Francisco."
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ROWE. Results only work environment is the only way to go. The idea that someone needs to be on site for 40 hours a week from 9-5 is bonkers.
I understand wanting people to communicate with each other more and face to face is nice, but that is what citrix is for.
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
Mike, Yahoo's results were not good. Change is tough on some people. Perhaps people became too complacent. Personally I think it is a bold move to reign it back in. And I think she is getting more heat than a man would get in this situation. This is where I believe sexism still exists....when bold decisions have to be made. Men appear strong, women appear like bitches.
Reality is the company was not doing well and the status quo won't do it any good. Sometimes you have to play initiatives out and see what happens (and being a barrier to that initiative doesnt do any good). My guess, after it's reigned it, it will start to go back the other way slowing with purposeful decisions on what work can be done remotely.
Also, I wonder if this is being done partially to get some employees to leave voluntarily?
The horror!!! Oh, the humanity!!!
:fp:
Now, several former Yahoo employees are coming forward in support of Mayer, saying that some of the company's employees took the leniency around telecommuting too far. “Mayer has found out just how dysfunctional the company can be,” said one former online editor at Yahoo, who recently left the company and agreed to speak to The Huffington Post on the condition of anonymity.
“I agree with what she did. Many workers were milking the company,” the former employee told HuffPost. Workers were abusing the policy on working from home, the former employee said. “There was a ton of flexibility, and I remember several times going to ask my manager a question -- and he was nowhere to be found."
In an interview with Business Insider, a former Yahoo engineer recalled a similar situation at the Internet company.
“For what it’s worth, I support the 'no working from home' rule,” the engineer told the news site. “There’s a ton of abuse of that at Yahoo,” the former employee reportedly said, leading to “people slacking off like crazy, not being available, spending a lot of time on non-Yahoo projects.”
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that's a interesting idea.
ROWE has to be structured. Meet the results or move on. If I do my best work from 4 in the afternoon to 11 in the evening, as long as I am meeting my work standards what does it matter.
Yahoo is suffering but I doubt it is because of where people work, coming from an employer company that switched to the ROWE, we are more productive. People know exactly what they have to do.
Some have to do it on site, some don't, but it all depends on your job.
I think it is a non story though. Not sure why this is a news story. Company changes work hours...alert the press! there is nothing more important happening this week at all...
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
What if the people that work with you or depend on you for answers need you at 8 AM? It's not all about the individual in a group environment.
correct, I would seriously read up on a ROWE environment. If the team needs me at 8:00 that is where I have to be. It is an interesting working environment. The standards are for individuals as well as teams. It is a pretty cool concept. I think all work environments have there draw backs, ROWE can certainly have some, especially in a union shop, but outside of that, it is a solid way to do business. It isn't just come and go as you please that is for sure.
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
Hahaha, you know I thought you made up your own acronym.
I read something similar to this in another article. Why punish those who can be trust to work remotely just because a few workers are not doing their job? Where was their boss if they were allowed to slack off to the point of it going so long that the CEO felt the need to pull out all the stops? Clearly, that's a middle management issue and should have been dealt with on a personal issue, not a company-wide one.
Frankly, after reading a bit about this, Yahoo is on the verge of going under, and this was a desperate move to attempt to pull the ship back up.
And lord knows that over time I would find myself sitting on the couch in my underwear until The Price is Right finished each day before I decided to shower.
It wasn't supposed to be a news story, it was an internal memo to employees that was spread to the media by upset and angry employees. Some Yahoo employees were remotely working, and now they have to relocate due to this new company policy.
Right, or they could find another job. I don't think coming into the office is a hardship.
That's what smart phones, teleconferencing, and Skype are for. Before telecommuting, employees are told what's needed from them to attend meetings and being available to colleagues via electronics.
I think it was Best Buy that developed it long ago. It is interesting, but requires discipline among staff.
It is a philosophy based around work, not workers. You lay out your responsibilities with management, and the steps you take to manage those responsibilities.
Like for me, it doesn't work to be at home all the time because of what I do, but a few days a month I gather some work and do it from home...saves a ton of dough in the commute
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
....but I think there are a TON of people who take advantage of it unnecessarily.
I also think it is good for people to get together and work from the same place.
There's a happy medium somewhere, but everybody knows someone these days who is completely scamming the system by working from "home" far too much.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
Remotely working is not just working 20 minutes away from the office. Remotely working is living in a different area (state, country, continent) altogether. Those are the employees who it's the hardest on; the ones that have to pick up and move.
I get that. People have to move all the time. It's part of the job. Now, I would hope they would be given a decent time frame to move and perhaps some help.
This is a broad generalization. I wrote a proposal to telecommute so I could work some time from home while taking care of my daughter and achieving more of a work-life balance, that many parents need.
Only those who fit the bill to work at home have to show that they can be trusted to work remotely, complete their work, return calls, attend video-teleconferences, and so on. You have to prove yourself. So if you think that it's a lazy way of working? Then you know nothing about telecommuting.
Or they could get a job with a better and more flexible company. From the OP:
I just think it gets abused. People didn't have this option so widely available to them 10 or 15 years ago.
I think it speaks to work ethic at least a little bit to be willing to come into the office on a regular basis.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
I do like to go into the office more often every once in a while. Even if it's for a half day. For Instance, I was in the elevator yesterday talking with 2 executives and a medical director. you can't get that type of interaction at home all the time. Maybe this is the point the CEO is trying to make?
Most people that work in my department are from CT. Since the beginning of our telework program, management has the entire workforce come in for the first thursday of each month, training sessions and management meetings.
People do take advantage of the situation and I think it ends up reflecting on their performance and year end results..
I've heard of other departments in my company taking away the telework program because of one person. I
As for your first sentence, you could be correct.
But things aren't going well, you need more control until you fully understand the issues.
As for losing great employees...probably will lose some. Will also lose bad ones. It's a bold move for sure, and I can understand people being upset.
You also used to be able to go home after work and forget about it. Mobile phones, Blackberries, smartphones email etc. made most positions a 24 hour gig.
I telecommute two weeks out of each month because the studio I work for is in SF and my primary house is in LA. So while we're in production I live at my house in SF and when we're not I live in LA with my husband and the boys.
So I have an office in the converted garage in my house. And it works because I'm not a lazy slob who spends all his time on Facebook and Twitter. If you can't do that... you can't work at home.
Just here.
Well of "all my time" constitutes three posts made yesterday, all of which were made in the evening.... I guess I'm guilty of that.
I still go home and forget about it. It's all about setting boundaries.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
That said, I see the benefits of working from home (with the assumption that one IS actually working from home; the few times I've "done" it, I was much like JasonP :P ), as I do the benefits of direct interaction like Lloyd mentioned.
I suppose it boils down to just being responsible, accountable...whether in the traditional work environment or not. Do what you need to do, and if you can't (or are unwilling), then do something else.
Took me a couple posts to realize mikepegg wasn't just waxing theoretical on some libertarian tangent again.