No More Telecommuting at Yahoo!

Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo! has decreed that telecommuting at Yahoo! is now dead. Employees that currently work from home will have two choices, come into the office everyday or quit. Considering the current economy and job market it looks like the perfect time, from Management’s perspective, to get everyone back in the office. Most employees will probably agree to drive into work despite the outrageous gas prices and traffic in the People’s Republik of Kalifornia.

Ms. Mayer feels that great ideas come from human to human contact that can only occur if everyone is working together. I must admit that I have been on both sides of this issue and understand arguments both for and against tele-commuting. Currently we use an extensive tele-commuting model and it works very well for us. Of course, we’re not Yahoo! so what works well for us may not work for them.

Perhaps Yahoo! needs to take a case-by-case look at tele-commuting and be more flexible.