[](http://linwangge.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/marissa-mayer-7882_270x338.jpg)Yahoo recently announced that ‘Working From Home’ is no longer allowed for its several hundreds employees. Many people are outrageous. I read a lot of angry comments on all the big tech medias. Yet interestingly, when I was browsing Quora, I stumbled upon this question: What has been the internal reaction at Yahoo to Marissa Mayer’s no work from home policy? _More interestingly, the top upvoted answer is from a current Yahoo employee, his answer, and I quote here, is:
I have been at Yahoo for four years and lets just say the house needed and still needs a lot of cleaning up and Marissa is doing just that. So I am glad that the change in policy was made. Many people are misled by the various stories going around. If your child is sick it is ok to work from home for that day and my boss and others are ok with that. The change primarily affects those who permanently work from home. If we want to change, compete, and make a come back all hands have to be on deck, in meetings, contributing ideas, involved, etc. People will use the argument that look at Google and how it allows employees to work from home. My question would be have you seen their P&L? They make boatloads of money. We are fighting to stay relevant. So getting your ass into the office and working on projects is not too much to ask. If you don't like it well too bad, the exit door is over there.
I think this answer very much said it all (no wonder it got 450+ upvote). Yes, WFH is a nice to have alternative and could boost creativity and offer some flexibility. But when you are fighting for your own survival, like Yahoo! right now, you need to do whatever it takes. Everyone needs to stick together and focused and work toward the same direction. Working from home, you’ll lose a lot of the peer pressure, the inspiration from others and the positive feedback loop. You’ll be less connected with your team, especially on the emotional level. And emotional support and moral matters A LOT in hard times.
I have to say it seems that good things are happening within the then Internet giant. Will we see another Apple like ‘Steve Jobs’ style turn around?
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