Yahoo Says No to Telecommuting!

On Friday, Yahoo informed its workforce that effective June 2013, all employees would have to report to the office to work.  No more work from home – its work from work at Yahoo from now on.  Initial reactions ranged from anger and outrage to confusion: how/why does a tech company that presumably knows how to utilize its own superior resources and technology no longer allow employees to utilize that technology to be productive from other locations?

According to the memo from Human Resources to the Yahoo workforce, the reason for this policy change is that in order “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."  Read the memo here.

The reality is that at its core, and irrespective of industry, Yahoo is a company just like any company and struggles with issues of productivity and workforce management just like the millions of much smaller businesses in the US.  In general, employers are not legally required to allow employees to telecommute.  Therefore question for employers seems to be whether the ability to work from home leads to greater productivity or inhibits collaboration (which can affect productivity).

Keeping in mind that not all jobs lend themselves to telecommuting (neuro-surgeon leaps to mind), what are some advantages and disadvantages to employers for allowing employees to telecommute?

Advantages

• Higher productivity from employees due to fewer interruptions 
• Improved employee morale
• Improved retention and lower need to recruit and train new employees.
• Reduced need for actual square footage 
• Reduced relocation costs 

Disadvantages

• Need to have the appropriate technology (and related security) in place to handle telecommuters 
• Need to change methods of management 
• Managers have to find innovative ways to create a productive team environment that includes the physically absent employee(s)
• Tracking time worked, which is important an important FLSA issuer if the employee is non-exempt 

Bottom Line
Allowing employees to telecommute can affect your bottom line in direct and indirect ways.  If you're interested in providing a telecommuting option for your employees, you need to do a few things first:

• Decide which jobs are appropriate for telecommuting 
• Draft and communicate a telecommuting policy that outlines eligibility and terms of telecommuting in addition to performance expectations and how performance will be evaluated
• Be prepared to train supervisors on how to manage telecommuting employees

If you have any questions about telecommuting or other flexible work arrangements, contact me or visit my website.