My impression from reading about the "brouhaha" here on HN is that people were mainly talking about the flaws of the policy itself. A lot of friction and hot air, but fundamentally, taking away a major employee perk isn't going to be easy even if it's obvious-in-black-and-white better for everyone, and this one is very grey. The one thing most people seem to agree on is that Yahoo! is not in a great position to be making stern pronouncements—after all, there are better companies hiring on both sides of the debate.<p>I see very little of this as having anything to do with Mayer-as-Mayer or Mayer-as-a-woman and almost all the reaction here having to do with Mayer-as-a-technology-CEO. Can't speak for the greater world, though I think my coworkers would agree out here in the middle of nowhere.<p>But I'm really here to bellyache about the format of this content. There are so many blog posts that read "Paragraph 1. In this post I'm going to tell you X. Paragraph 2: X! Paragraph 3: In conclusion, I think X." The length here is an improvement but I'm not sure a three page essay really warrants a table of contents of five parts.
This is the reason for staff slacking off:<p>Google's mission: Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.<p>Facebook's mission: Facebook's mission is to make the world more open and connected.<p>What is yahoo? Yahoo! makes the world's daily habits inspiring and entertaining. By creating highly personalized experiences for our users, we keep people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the globe. In turn, we create value for advertisers by connecting them with the audiences that build their businesses.<p><a href="http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/faq.cfm" rel="nofollow">http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/faq.cfm</a><p>Note: if you do a google search for yahoo mission, nothing is found on yahoo itself. The lack of a big hairy goal is not motivating.
I feel the decision to kill remote-work would have been less harsh if Yahoo opened up a daycare departement for all the employees' kids. Now the CEO does not work remote, but gets to have her kid in the room next door. She's paying for it herself, so thats smart. Why not give other employees that option? Give them the option to pay for an in-company daycare centre together.
I don't see how you make Yahoo! a great company again without having employees work hard (not just smart) and work side-by-side, physically.<p>Whatever percentage of Google or Facebook works from home, I'd argue the percentage at Yahoo! should be less.<p>It's clear Marissa is on a mission to make Yahoo! succeed at playing catchup and righting the ship.<p>Folks who wish to work from home should go to more established, relaxed institutions.<p>This isn't your daddy's Yahoo! anymore.<p>Go long Marissa Mayer.
Personally, I've seen a lot of qualitative analysis and anecdotal evidence to support remote working, specifically when it comes to technology companies. I've worked with a notable company who almost exclusively used remote employees and, from that experience, would never advocate remote work on a regular basis. It certainly has a place, for specific people of good standing and character who are put in an extraneous circumstance; but I've consistently observed what I believe Mayer has: smart people in the same space day after day will breed a more innovative, collaborative culture.<p>Most of the criticism that I've observed regarding the announcement seems to reek of the opinion that telecommuting is a "Good Thing" and that anyone who can't see that is missing the forest for the trees. This usually goes in hand with laughable academic braying and vaunted statistics about (some number less than 40) hour work weeks.<p>Forgoing my inclination to rant about how that kind of opinion is generally cancerous to an organization trying to change the landscape of it's industry through creativity, I think that Yahoo! is in a position where it can't afford to treat their employees like a productive group. And to that effect, it's much easier to identify shit employees who show up an hour+ late and leave with the herd at 5pm when you(or your managers) can observe that behavior regularly. Regardless of their output, I've observed that people who can't be bothered to adhere to simple routine will become an abrasive factor in a fast moving, creative culture; and tend to inevitably diminish the effectiveness of their peers. That kind of situation is the last thing that Yahoo! needs at the moment.<p>If Yahoo! can get out from under it's own sense of prior accomplishment and entitlement, and I remain confident that Mayer can do this for them, I'm sure she would consider a situation like remote working when it comes to top talent. But, until that happens, everyone there should be treated like a rich son in a boarding school -- assume the worst about most of those individuals and the one's who are weighing down the company will start to show their true color.
Totally agree: "I don't believe that treating employees fairly requires treating them identically".
Also I don't think "hallway and cafeteria discussions" are the paradigm of hard work.