Marissa Mayer's Yahoo! memo sparks work-from-home debate

The furore stirred up by the leaked memo from Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer has inspired huge debate over remote working for employees, particularly at tech companies. No doubt Ms. Mayer believes that in order to revive Yahoo, she needs every one of the 10,000+ staff employed across the country. And while Yahoo have subsequently denied this move to be a 'broad industry view' on working from home, the majority of discussions have been roundly critical of the policy.
Leaked (presumably by a disgruntled 'yahoo') to tech news publication AllThingsD, this revealing HR memo from the internet giant has caused quite the ruckus...

"To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices. 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. We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together. 

"Beginning in June, we’re asking all employees with work-from-home arrangements to work in Yahoo! offices. If this impacts you, your management has already been in touch with next steps. And, for the rest of us who occasionally have to stay home for the cable guy, please use your best judgement in the spirit of collaboration. Being a Yahoo isn’t just about your day-to-day job, it is about the interactions and experiences that are only possible in our offices."

There have been several scathing responses across the world to what many perceive to be an uncompromising, draconian view from the former Google engineer whose company was named in the "Top 50 Best Places to Work" by Business Insider for 2013.

With many yahoo staff hired under the assertion that they would be working from home, several anonymous quotes from Yahoo employees, such as the example on AllThingsD below, confirm their disgust.

“Even if that was what was previously agreed to with managers and HR, or was a part of the package to take a position, tough … It’s outrageous and a morale killer.”

Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle described the decision as "bad advice from an HR exec."

He told MarketWatch: “Typically this is done because management feels workers are slacking off, they stop the practice, only to find they lose key employees and productivity drops.”

Richard Branson described the announcement as a "backwards step", an incongruous piece of HR legislation as the tech industries become increasingly fragmented. A 2011 study by Telework Research Network found that working remotely increased 73% from 2005 to 2011 in the United States, whilst 3 million people in the UK now work primarily from home, with nearly 60% of British companies offering such an opportunity.

Miss Miller's now-infamous presents three major challenges: the effect on working parents who now require daycare; the geographical proximity to head office for staff, who may be forced to relocate just to keep their job; and finally, those who cannot or will not conform, and will look for opportunities elsewhere - a disastrous loss of talent, or perhaps the weeding out of those not buying in to the new philosophy? After all, Yahoo has been somewhat unfashionable since the advent of Google and Apple - hence why Miller was hired.

“This isn’t a broad industry view on working from home,” the statement said. “This is about what is right for Yahoo! right now.”

And while that may be true, reviving the internet giant's flagging fortunes with a policy deemed rather unfashionable could prove to be the make or break moment for Yahoo.