Yahoo CEO: No more working remote -- get to the office or quit

Something we agree on. Well said.

 

As opposed to when they were sitting at their desk in the home office during Little Jenny's dance recital?

When I became an ASE, I hated the fact that my desk was about 50-75 feet from our copy editors and design desk, far enough to where I had to scream to communicate, call them on the phone or drop whatever I was doing and walk over there. Sounds minor, but it really was a pain in the ass. And at least with reporters, when they're in the office you can stand behind them and yell "FINISH YOUR GD STORY ALREADY," or whatever your gentle nudging of encouragement might be as the time ticks off the clock.

I don't blame Mayer for wanting people to actually show up for work and, you know, interact with their coworkers. People may be productive when they work from home, but she's correct in that the quality of work (collaboration, etc.) goes up when people work together face-to-face.

I worked with a guy once that was at one point allowed to take two-hour long dinner breaks once a week so he could go play rec league softball. I put a stop to that crap. He actually called it a "quality of life issue." Sorry, son, but there's work to do.

 

my dog, elvis, actually stopped licking his balls when i played that.
elvis asked me to tell you to fuck off.

 

"Marissa Mayer has made a terrible mistake"

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/02/yahoo_working_at_home_marissa_mayer_has_made_a_terrible_mistake_working.html

Mayer is going to regret this decision. It’s myopic, unfriendly, and so boneheaded that I worry it’s the product of spending too much time at the office.

 

The arguments many folks are making in favor of working from home are not helping. They are not going to get a lot of sympathy.

Reminds me of the APSE complaining about the seating at the Final Four.

 

Maybe it's all PR. What's happening? Everyone is talking about Yahoo and the pro/con to working at home.

Give it a week and we'll have a national conversation going.

 

The best argument seems to be economic efficiency, right? That it benefits the economy and productivity of the United States as a whole (if, indeed, it does). Less gas burned. Less wear-and-tear on cars. Less time spent commuting. Less wasteful use of office space.

Some of the current arguments - "It's so much better for me!" - remind me a lot of the arguments I hear from teachers a lot of the time, particularly those picketing in Chicago last fall: "We work so hard! Republicans don't care about us!"

 

Citing Jonah Lehrer as a primary source might have also not been the best decision.

I'm not really up to speed on the tech world. A good friend works at a high-end company and they expect people to be at work, even though allow for some personal freedom by having people be at home when they need to be. That sort of sounds like Yahoo has outlined.

It also sounds like what Google and Facebook do.

In a creative field, where you sort of get paid to think, it can be much better to have someone to ping ideas off of or have flashes of innovation while eating a free lunch in the company cafeteria.

You don't always get that when you work at home and I think everyone acknowledges that. And as a company Yahoo is trying to find innovation to stay relevant.

As a side note, my friend's company also provides free food, free drinks, free smoothies and all the other goodies people hear about the tech company offices.

 

Baron,

We rarely agree on anything on the politics board but you are dead on correct here.

Mayer can throw down the edict but, amid the panic from Yahoo workers, this would be ideal poaching time for any companies looking for similar skill sets and a willingness to let talented people work from home.

Perhaps this was a preemptive move to lessen the Yahoo workforce. Make workers upset, make them feel demoted or of a lesser value and perhaps they'll quit and work elsewhere. No severance pay. No ugly legal battle. TV stations do it all the time. Demote an anchor so that they'll quit instead of accepting their new role on Saturday at 5 am.

 

Remember why Mayer joined Yahoo! Larry and Sergei downgraded her role and she quit. I guess she learned that tactic works.

 

"Chill Out, Marissa Mayer's Work-at-Home Memo Was Not About You."

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2013/02/chill-out-marissa-mayer-work-home-memos-not-about-you/62548/

Least compelling of all the arguments against Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's new tyrannical order — outlawing permanent work-from-home arrangements for her employees — come from people who feel like their particular work-life patterns are about to be upset.