Yahoo abolishes work-at-home policy

Since Marissa Mayer became chief executive of Yahoo, she has been
working hard to get the Internet pioneer off its deathbed and make it
an innovator once again.

She started with free food and new smartphones for every employee,
borrowing from the playbook of Google, her employer until last year.
Now, though, Yahoo has made a surprise move: abolishing its
work-at-home policy and ordering everyone to work in the office.

A memo explaining the policy change, from the company's human
resources department, says face-to-face interaction among employees
fosters a more collaborative culture — a hallmark of Google's approach
to its business.

In trying to get back on track, Yahoo is taking on one of the
country's biggest workplace issues: whether the ability to work from
home, and other flexible arrangements, leads to greater productivity
or inhibits innovation and collaboration. Across the country,
companies like Aetna, Booz Allen Hamilton and Zappos.com are
confronting these trade-offs as they compete to attract and retain the
best employees.

Bank of America, for example, which had a popular program for working
remotely, decided late last year to require employees in certain roles
to come back to the office.

Employees, especially younger ones, expect to be able to work
remotely, analysts say. And over all the trend is toward greater
workplace flexibility.

Still, said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger Gray &
Christmas, an outplacement and executive coaching firm, "A lot of
companies are afraid to let their workers work from home some of the
time or all of the time because they're afraid they'll lose control."

Studies show that people who work at home are significantly more
productive but less innovative, said John Sullivan, a professor of
management at San Francisco State University who runs a human resource
advisory firm.

"If you want innovation, then you need interaction," he said. "If you
want productivity, then you want people working from home."

Reflecting these tensions, Yahoo's policy change has unleashed a storm
of criticism from advocates for workplace flexibility who say it is a
retrograde approach, particularly for those who care for young
children or aging parents outside of work. Their dismay is heightened
by the fact that they hoped Ms Mayer, who became chief executive at 37
while pregnant with her first child, would make the business world
more hospitable for working parents.

"The irony is that she has broken the glass ceiling, but seems
unwilling for other women to lead a balanced life in which they care
for their families and still concentrate on developing their skills
and career," said Ruth Rosen, a professor emerita of women's history
at the University of California.

But not only women take advantage of workplace flexibility policies.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly as many men
telecommute.

The bureau says 24 percent of employed Americans report working from
home at least some hours each week. And 63 percent of employers said
last year that they allowed employees to work remotely, up from 34
percent in 2005, according to a study by the Families and Work
Institute, a nonprofit group studying the changing work force.

During the recession, the institute expected employers to demand more
face time, but instead found that 12 percent increased workplace
flexibility, said Ellen Galinsky, its president and co-founder. She
attributed this to companies' desire to reduce real estate costs,
carbon footprints and commuting times.

Technologies developed in Silicon Valley, from video chat to instant
messaging, have made it possible for employees across America to work
remotely. Yet like Yahoo, many tech companies believe that working in
the same physical space drives innovation.

A Yahoo spokeswoman, Sara Gorman, declined to comment, saying only
that the company did not publicly discuss internal matters.

The company's memo, written by Jackie Reses, director of human
resources at Yahoo, and published on All Things D, a blog on digital
issues, said: "Some of the best decisions and insights come from
hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people and impromptu
team meetings. Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work
from home."

In part, the memo looks like an effort to bring a Google spirit to
Yahoo, said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners who covers both
companies.
TOI