Working from home- Yahoo CEO says no more (1 Viewer)

[efil4stnias]

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer faces growing firestorm over remote worker recall - Sacramento Top News | Examiner.com


there is a growing contingent of folks who are saying she is wrong. Is she?

My personal belief is there are certain aspects of jobs that should be done from an office, on site. There are some that can be handled from home, but for most part, anything related to the day to day operation should be done from office on premises.

I have always held true to not working from home as home is my sanctuary. I think once u start bringing work "home" ( depending on what you do ) it cant be a good thing. Especially if its a fast-paced, attention to detail type job.

Im interested to know what most believe.

 

[jrdbrn]

I could work from home, but I am at the office 35 hours a week. I am a system administrator for a helicopter company. Everything has be remote controlled though.

 

[efil4stnias]

I could work from home, but I am at the office 35 hours a week. I am a system administrator for a helicopter company. Everything has be remote controlled though.

not familiar with...is that like IT?

if so, what im gettin at is lets say im at office, system starts acting up and I call you and your not at home office. I call cell, and you tell me give me 15 min because you had to get lil jrdbrn from school because he is ill. That delays my ability to get my work done, which may be under time constraints.

I could see where that could/would cause some friction among the workforce.

I think that would be something to avoid.

 

[jrdbrn]

not familiar with...is that like IT?

if so, what im gettin at is lets say im at office, system starts acting up and I call you and your not at home office. I call cell, and you tell me give me 15 min because you had to get lil jrdbrn from school because he is ill. That delays my ability to get my work done, which may be under time constraints.

I could see where that could/would cause some friction among the workforce.

I think that would be something to avoid.

I dunno. The majority of my issues are solved without me leaving my desk.

 

[efil4stnias]

I dunno. The majority of my issues are solved without me leaving my desk.

but u have to do from computer, correct? I know that our IT can log in remotely, but it can be aggravating when there is a need for them and you cant get a hold of them.

I guess that was my point....if they are at "work" you know they are basically around. At home, no telling where they are at any given moment and their expertise is needed.

 

[antipop]

there is no reason that i can't work from my house....everything about my job takes place on this computer

:fatty:

 

[St.Fury]

Lets take a look at some numbers. These numbers come from Forbes. So take it how you wish. http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2012/07/17/employees-really-do-waste-time-at-work/

Specifically, the survey revealed 64 percent of employees visit non-work related websites every day at work. Of that group, 39 percent spend one hour or less per week, 29 percent spend 2 hours per week, 21 percent waste five hours per week, and only 3 percent said they waste 10 hours or more doing unrelated activities. (My experience as a CEO tells me these figures are probably underestimated.)

Lets just assume these numbers are accurate for the sake of argument.

If 39% waste <1 hour, that equals 4485 people. Lets say they average 30 minutes. That's still 2242.5 wasted hours.

If 21% waste 2 hours. That's 2415 people and 4830 hrs.

Now if 3% waste 10 hours, that's 345 people and 3450 hours.

Total, that would be 10522.5 wasted hours PER WEEK!

I work from home just as much as I work on the road. I know I waste more time when I'm home. So these numbers could possibly be low.

But let's assume they are correct. Lets also assume these workers average 40 hours a week. That is equal to 263 people working a 40 hour week. That's a TON of production being lost!

 

[RazorOye]

I think once u start bringing work "home" ( depending on what you do ) it cant be a good thing.

as someone who has spent most of his recent career working from home, it's a mixed bag.

Ultimately, I'd rather have a job to go to. An office.

The past few years, working on the research and publishing end of my schooling, have been conducted at home. It's convenient. It saves on gas money and wear and tear on my vehicle. I get to see my kids. I can dictate my own schedule.

But it's also very tough. I'm never, ever away from work. Ever. After years, that really does take a mental toll on you. At least, it has on me. I never really feel "off" or away from work. I also enjoy getting out and being part of a social work scene.

Moving from a high school environment, where I am interacting with hundreds of kids a day to the solitary toiling over research and writing has been a big shock. I find that I feel better feeding off of others rather than sustaining things by myself.

It's also tougher to establish a routine, which I find really settling. Too easy to get distracted or lose focus.

I'd prefer having a different space.

To the point we considered renting a loft apartment down the road that neighbors owned, just so I culd have a separate work space away from the house.

 

[Sun Wukong]

as someone who has spent most of his recent career working from home, it's a mixed bag.

Ultimately, I'd rather have a job to go to. An office.

The past few years, working on the research and publishing end of my schooling, have been conducted at home. It's convenient. It saves on gas money and wear and tear on my vehicle. I get to see my kids. I can dictate my own schedule.

But it's also very tough. I'm never, ever away from work. Ever. After years, that really does take a mental toll on you. At least, it has on me. I never really feel "off" or away from work. I also enjoy getting out and being part of a social work scene.

Moving from a high school environment, where I am interacting with hundreds of kids a day to the solitary toiling over research and writing has been a big shock. I find that I feel better feeding off of others rather than sustaining things by myself.

It's also tougher to establish a routine, which I find really settling. Too easy to get distracted or lose focus.

I'd prefer having a different space.

To the point we considered renting a loft apartment down the road that neighbors owned, just so I culd have a separate work space away from the house.

Agreed. I've done some limited work from home and pretty much had the same experience. At first you think it will be awesome, but after a while you're no longer able to separate work and home life. I got distracted really easily, would procrastinate more, and then have to catch up on a bunch of stuff at the last minute because of all the time I'd wasted. When you actually have a place to go to, it eliminates a lot of that.

 

[NYCsaint]

not familiar with...is that like IT?

if so, what im gettin at is lets say im at office, system starts acting up and I call you and your not at home office. I call cell, and you tell me give me 15 min because you had to get lil jrdbrn from school because he is ill. That delays my ability to get my work done, which may be under time constraints.

I could see where that could/would cause some friction among the workforce.

I think that would be something to avoid.

ummm - ideally, if the system is working - you are at home working, when working from home and not cruising the town doing whatever you want.

id imagine that something like you described would potentially be grounds to lose the work at home privilege depending on the arrangements you have in place

 

[PayOrPlay]

Today's Washington Post has an interesting column about this. In summary, the columnist suggests that Mayer is trying to identify the most committed people to try and turn around Yahoo's sullied performance. But the risk is that she will alienate creatives (and maybe some customers). And it might have gone over better for her had she not spent a slew of money to build herself a daycare room next to her own office, a luxury that less excessively compensated subordinates do not have.

The Yahoo memo and Marissa Mayer

The backlash against the leaked Yahoo memo banning telecommuting work was as swift as it was comprehensive. Innovative CEOs such as Richard Branson were "perplexed" by the move. Telecommuting advocates fretted that Marissa Mayer, the company’s CEO, was attempting to turn back the clock on flexible workplace advances. Working moms worried that Mayer — herself a new mother — had turned into an evil caricature of a woman who wanted to have it all. And management gurus were quick to point out that telecommuting workers were actually more productive than office workers.

But take a deep breath and consider a few things. Mayer is a young celebrity CEO who hangs with people like Wyclef Jean and Matt Lauer. She’s not an out-of-touch Old School CEO without any idea of how this Internet thing works. She knows how the Googleplex works, inside and out, since she was the 20th person ever hired at Google. . . .

So, if the Yahoo memo is not a bone-headed move that shows how out-of-touch the company’s CEO is with the way Silicon Valley works, then what is it?

It might just be one of the biggest “bet-the-company” moves to create a culture of innovation that we’ve ever seen in Silicon Valley. Marissa Mayer is essentially saying to her employees, “If you’re not 100 percent vested in making Yahoo one of the greatest companies in Silicon Valley once again, then you’re not the right fit for us anymore.” The telecommuting ban functions much like a tempting buyout offer from a company trying to slim down via attrition.

 

[PayOrPlay]

Lets take a look at some numbers. These numbers come from Forbes. So take it how you wish. http://saintsreport.com/forums/f2/sed-ellis-buys-custom-ferrari-288292/#.US_D7Yy9KK0

Wait--are you suggesting that Sed Ellis is going to start working from home?

 

[El Caliente]

If more people knew how to work from home, and managers had the equipment for it to work it would be great. But so few managers know how to manage employees not within reach. Time will tell if she is right or not. I think it's a step in the wrong direction (getting rid of working from home). Jet Blue showed you could have you booking agents work from home (by hiring stay at home moms to handle bookings), but then again not everyone has management savvy enough to pick up the ball and run with it...or even take a minuet to look for said ball.

 

[St.Fury]

Wait--are you suggesting that Sed Ellis is going to start working from home?

Lmbo! Possibly!

My mistake on the link. I was viewing several threads at once and must've copied and pasted the wrong one. I fixed it.

 

[efil4stnias]

If more people knew how to work from home, and managers had the equipment for it to work it would be great. But so few managers know how to manage employees not within reach. Time will tell if she is right or not. I think it's a step in the wrong direction (getting rid of working from home). Jet Blue showed you could have you booking agents work from home (by hiring stay at home moms to handle bookings), but then again not everyone has management savvy enough to pick up the ball and run with it...or even take a minuet to look for said ball.

see i get a "booking agent" working from home. That makes sense and the job description, from what I know, could be accomplished from home.

But like you, arent you a CPA? I would think that working from home for you would be much more complicated/hard.