Yahoo’s youngest CEO and new mom, Marissa Mayer decided last week to discontinue all remote positions and eliminate flex time for employees. Not only will all remote positions be eliminated, but even employees who have a flex schedule – allowing them to work from home one or two days a week – will no longer be allowed to do so.
As a full-time remote employee – thankfully not for Yahoo - this felt like another blow by a working mom who has the power to pave the way for the rest of us. I guess I should have realized that she wasn’t going to be helping most working mom’s plight with her two-week maternity leave, but I have to admit that I still held out hope.
Some are arguing that Mayer is making the right decision and that Yahoo’s remote employees were milking the company. I’ll be the first to admit that my typical day doesn’t look like it would if I worked in an office but there are certain requirements and expectations that are required as part of my contract. While I am sure there are some people that take advantage of the flexibility — there are others who do the work – and do it well. Instead of banning telecommuting entirely, couldn’t Mayer and her staff worked to identify those for whom it wasn’t working?
It takes a certain type of person to work from home. One must be self-motivated and able to beat the constant temptations of the internet and procrastination to be effective. It isn’t for everyone. But for some – myself included – it’s a Godsend. Not only am I able to be available at the drop of a hat for my children, but I’m also able to have a career – a lucrative one at that. I actually work harder now than I did when I taught full-time at a brick and mortar high school. The challenges are totally different — but as far as actual work produced, classes taught, and papers graded — working online has allowed me to nearly triple my output.
Working from home definitely isn’t all sunshine and roses — there are many negatives — including isolation, lack of vacation, weekend hours, and being attached to a cellphone. But there is also unprecedented efficiency, limited distractions, and the ability to work flexible/off-kilter hours. And the biggest perk — flexibility for my children. Which Mayer must understand at least a bit — especially considering she had a nursery built in her office.
While I am all for women making strides in the workplace, once you have a child (or three), there is no doubt that life is different. There are different needs that must be met. Different requirements for your day-to-day life. For example, on Tuesday, I received a text message from the school at 11 am saying that they were releasing for the day at 12:30 due to snow. If I was working in a traditional setting this would throw my entire world into a tailspin — but for me, it just meant an extra two hours with my kids and working more on Tuesday evening once their dad arrived home and they were in bed.
To successfully balance the craziness of being invested in one’s career and a parent, there has to be at least some flexibility. It’s the age of the Internet. Telecommuting and networking remotely are part of the career landscape. More and more companies are seeing this and acting on it. Why Mayer and the Yahoo Corporation are taking a step backwards truly baffles me.
Homepage photo via Giorgio Montersino on Flickr
You put into words [quite a bit more eloquently] exactly what I thought to myself when I saw this article last week. My personal opinion [a judgmental one, I'll admit] is that Mayer feels she needs to prove something. And that’s never a good thing.
Shannon recently posted..Word of 2013
Shannon, I kind of got that vibe too. Like maybe since she can’t work from home and she can’t have that flexibility why should anyone?
Jamie recently posted..Snow, Snow, Snow!
I agree with Shannon. My position & company aren’t tech savvy enough to have a WFH option but my husband does & it’s invaluable on days when the cable guy is supposed to come or being able to help me a little once I get home with the babies in the evenings. Definitely feels like a step in the backwards direction.
Suz recently posted..Nine Month Appointment Update
Twitter: suzstreats
alright. I have kinda been keeping this all to myself while the internets went all OH NO SHE DIDN’T! While I don’t agree with axing remote employees on a whim…I know it is a business decision. I guess I am focusing more on the “you can’t work from home more” angle than firing people who were hired to work remotely(that is just sucky all around for them). I know we all had those hopes of YAY YOUNG MOMMY CEO GONNA MAKE THE WORLD DIFFERENT but let’s be serious…it’s yahoo. They aren’t a giant profit machine like they used to be. This is a business decision. Is it nice to have the work from home option? HELLS YEAH but it’s a perk in most cases. We keep acting like companies owe us something but fact is it is a business to make money. If they feel that paying for facilities that people don’t come and use is a bad idea…who are we to say “BUT SOCCER PRACTICE!?!’ Also? It seems a little snooty of us to be complaining about people not working from home in swanky jobs when a large number of people don’t have a job at all.
I guess I get a little attached to this because this is similar to my workplace (shudder…gasp…o my). Yes I work at the disneyland of the corporate world and we don’t have partial work from home people. Now we do have a little flexibility with it. If I have to wait for the carpet cleaners to show up, I can work from home to wait for them that day but not a set schedule. Reasoning? We have been blessed with a campus to make our home lives easier. While not to the nursery in my office level but I am so engrained into campus, I have to drive into it just to go to the dr, drop the kids at daycare, get my haircut, workout….you get the picture. They pay the money for us to have full offices, fancy cafes and gym employees to teach us classes. Telling us to work from home would make zero sense. So while I know Yahoo isn’t up there with us and Google in the perks department, I would like to know more to that side of the story before I start damning her for her decision.
P.S. I don’t want to keep ranting because who wants that but why is this a WOMAN’S issue? I am pretty sure plenty of men work from home too but it seems to be all a blow to “feminism” and I am left scratching my head.
Brandy recently posted..TECHnically Speaking: Infinite Email Addresses
Twitter: mannlymama
I agree with you in your situation. However, and I know you know this, but your company is, unfortunately, not the norm. I work for a tech company and the second largest government contractor in the country. Every year they make it tougher and tougher for us. We don’t have daycare, gyms, health centers, or a subsidized cafeteria. Every year our benefits package gets worse and worse, but more expensive. Hell, we don’t even have OFFICES any more: I sit in a cube in a massive wall-less room with a hundred other people. It is loud and annoying. Now they are consolidating buildings, and I am moving 15 miles and 1.5 hours away from my home and current building. We have all been told that if we don’t like it, we can leave. Unfortunately good jobs are hard to come by in DC right now. Companies like mine are the new norm.
Oh yes I am fully aware. My only point there is I want to know the full details of Yahoo’s company culture to make my full opinion on the issue. I know people who work from home because they HAVE to. US Patent Office almost requires it because they don’t have the offices. Once again, it is all based on business justification…and from a software company, I can see the need to be in the office…if it exists.
Brandy recently posted..TECHnically Speaking: Infinite Email Addresses
Twitter: mannlymama
Don’t you just see the irony in an online company NOT promoting remote employment? Which would use more technology… less air conditioning… less paper… less whatever.
Shannon recently posted..Word of 2013
Brandy, I agree — I think a lot of it depends on the company/environment/what’s expected, etc. There are so many variables that have to be in order to make it work. However, there had to be a reason they started allowing it in the first place? I would have a lot more respect if they were doing changes on an individual basis instead of across the board.
I think it’s an issue for men and women. However, for my family, it’s an issue for me. Mike and I have fairly gender stereotyped roles where I do the kid stuff and try to balance work — and he works. I work from home which makes doing the kid stuff (and the house stuff) slightly easier. But those are still my roles. You’re super lucky that Kevin has the same hours as you and shares the parenting/household responsibilities — but for many of us, that still isn’t the case. However, I think this same argument could be made by WAH Fathers who juggle the kids and work (I know a few) – having that flexibility is crucial. From the sounds of it, your work does provide that flexibility – even though you do report in office.
Jamie recently posted..Snow, Snow, Snow!
I’ve worked at a shitty company with zero benefits.
I’ve worked at a shitty company with great benefits.
I’ve worked from home for a tech company.
I’ve worked at the disneyland of tech companies with Brandy.
So pretty much I’ve done it all. & to this, I say…
YOU GO ON WITH YOUR AWESOME SELF, MS. MAYER!
Communications (even in a tech company) run better when people are face-to-face. It’s just human nature.
Personally, I think she’s implementing a genius tactic to get rid of the dead weight at Yahoo! Don’t want to come in? Feel you’re entitled to stay home? Cool. Someone else wants your job in the office. That’s the nature of this economy & business.
Could it have been done a little more gently, by perhaps keeping a moderated flex time? Sure.
But in this economy, I doubt Yahoo! will struggle to find quality folks who are eager to be there & reboot the company.
Beth Anne recently posted..Things I like that nobody else likes
Twitter: baballance
Um… wow. That’s a strong reaction. I guess the one issue I have with your comment is the part about “feeling entitled to stay home”. That certainly isn’t how I feel — I am ready and willing to work just as hard (if not harder) than others in my field. However, if my company suddenly eliminated all remote positions, I would have to quit and find a different job (or work more at my other three part-time jobs) as moving across the country to be in office daily doesn’t work for my family or my husband’s career.
Jamie, I promise I wasn’t saying that YOU feel entitled to stay home
My reaction is not to your piece (which was well-written) but rather to the attitude of the general public towards the ban.
Unfortunately, I do see a lot of I AM ENTITLED TO THIS in the comments & reactions I’ve seen. & I personally feel that as employees, we are not entitled to anything. It’s a job. We’re there to do it, however they ask, whenever they ask. & if it doesn’t fit into your life & goals, it’s time to move on.
As a contractor, I work with a lot of folks that would be more than willing to be in an office every day if it were required, just for the job security.
Beth Anne recently posted..Things I like that nobody else likes
Twitter: baballance
I agree — no one is entitled to work from home, telecommute, work remotely, or whatever fancy term they want to use. They have to be willing and able to not only do the work, but do the work well in any setting.
Also, I think there can definitely be benefits to working on-site. Oftentimes it depends on both the specific job and the people…
In a lot of ways I feel bad for Marissa Mayer. When she took the job at Yahoo, she also unwillingly signed up to be the poster child for working moms. It is pretty obvious that her main goal isn’t to make women all over America like her, but to try a revive a flailing company. That being said, I do not agree with her all or nothing approach. I work for a tech company, and our rules on telework is that it is at manager’s discretion. Seems simple to me. If you do your work well and on-time then telework should be no problem. Employees abusing the system should be easily weeded out when their work suffers. Again: at manager’s discretion not CEO! I am (hopefully) about to start working from home 3 days a week. I am a little worried about the distractions, but I also know that I work well with deadlines. I am planning on giving myself (self-imposed) deadlines everyday and work with those. I think telecommuting will work better for me. I do a lot of coding and analytic work which requires concentration and (for me, personally) quiet. A couple years ago, my company moved us all into cubicles. It is hard for me to concentrate with all the noise going on around me. My nice, quiet home office will be a nice change of pace, and I actually see my productivity going up.
WHO MADE HER OUR POSTER CHILD? She did. And I think it’s ridiculous.
Shannon recently posted..Word of 2013
Shannon – exactly!!! The press has put her on some kind of pedestal. I kind of feel sorry for her… new CEO, new baby, and the whole working mom world judging her every memo.
Twitter: bloombing
YES. I agree. She made amazing career moves, she made a choice to start a family, NOW LET’S SCRUTINIZE HER. Media ruins everything.
Shannon recently posted..Word of 2013
I think the media made her our poster child and she’s taking it on because she has no choice. Everyone is watching her every move. And she probably knew this would happen becoming the youngest CEO woman…and pregnant. When you are in that big of the public light you take it on. Because you have to. I saw that she was on the Today show last week. I’m interested to watch the clip and see what she has to say about all this pressure on her as a working mom. And remember from my post about her, she’s not my poster child. She’s not my role model. I can’t relate to her. She is to us what we choose to let her be. You know
Twitter: wa_tracy
She could easily say “Don’t look at me” as many people do when the media presents them as some sort of archetype of the working mother. But she doesn’t. She makes appearances and she owns it and quite frankly, I feel that she makes decisions based on people’s perceptions. Like, see me? I’m not sitting at home working short hours in yoga pants with my baby on my boob! So why should you? I don’t know, I guess I’m cynical sometimes. She’s certainly not my role model because the gap between her and me is chasmic and the differences in our salaries, daily activities, expectations are far and wide. I just don’t like it when someone feels they need to be “THE FACE” of something when no one asked them to be.
Shannon recently posted..Word of 2013
I bet she feels some sort of responsibility. Like I feel responsibility with this blog because of the community I want to create for working moms.
Twitter: wa_tracy
Hmm… I have to disagree Shannon. I have heard her say several times that she didn’t want to be a role model. That, and she refused to be photographed for her Fortune Mag cover pregnant. As soon as she accepted her job, women’s and parenting blogs jumped all over her. She never (outright) asked for that. I personally don’t consider her to be a role model, but that is because I would never want to be a CEO.
Heather, you’re right. Her main goal is to run Yahoo. The media has latched on to her because she’s in a high-profile positon and she’s making decisions and choices that do stand out and catch their attention.
I agree that WAH should be a case by case basis. Some people are perfect for it — others can’t handle that type of responsibility. And it depends on the job itself too. Obviously, if you need to be meeting with the public all day, it would be difficult to work from home!
Jamie recently posted..Snow, Snow, Snow!
I have to agree with Jaime. Despite it being a ‘business decision’, it’s a blow. Instead of issuing an edict/ultimatum, they should have spent time with each telecommuting employee and been selective about it. Use a scalpel instead of an axe. Hopefully this won’t set a precedent for more companies going down this road. Ironically, next week is telecommute week in VIrginia for state employees, per governor edict. Hate to say I’m happy to be working for the Va. government now rather than Yahoo.
Twitter: bloombing
This is kinda what I was saying. Why can’t it be manager’s discretion? The CEO of my company has no idea what I do and how well (or poorly) I do it. If I am doing a poor job while working from home, then it is my managers problem and he/she should be the one to deal with it. If my manager has a problem with my work then I would understand, if my CEO has a problem, I am all “Who the hell are you! You don’t know my work!” and that is when it is not fair. Of course all this is null and void if your CEO is your manager, but my job is not that fancy …
“Use a scalpel instead of an axe.” EXACTLY. Yes.
Jamie recently posted..Snow, Snow, Snow!
She’s a de facto role model whether she wants to be purely because there are so few women, especially women of childbearing age, who are CEOs of major companies. Every move she makes faces scrutiny because she is still an anomaly. I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about her decision, but I feel that she’s damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t on every decision she makes.
KeAnne recently posted..I Don’t Wear Mascara on Fridays
Twitter: KeAnne
Yep.
Beth Anne recently posted..Go on with yo bad self, Ms. Mayer
Twitter: baballance
Agreed! Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t. Sucks to be her
Twitter: wa_tracy
I wonder what the reaction would have been if a man had made this decision. Just because she is a working mom, why does she have to be the champion for working moms? In my mind, she has to do whatever she needs to do to help Yahoo’s profits – if that means eliminating telecommuting, than so be it.
I also don’t see it as setting a precedent that will affect any of the rest of us who WFH (myself included). Google’s announcement of a 5-month paid maternity leave isn’t setting a precedent, why should this?
Twitter: jessieyeager
Jessie,
I’d still be disturbed if a man had made this decision. I agree she has to put her company first — but as it was said above, it seems like it would be better to do that on a more individual or department basis than by just eliminating remote and flexible schedules entirely.
I don’t foresee my job(s) going away or not being able to work remotely either — online education is the wave of the future – but it is still disappointing to see a company that should be tech savvy and tech friendly taking this route.
Jamie recently posted..Snow, Snow, Snow!
I used to work for IBM and 2 years ago they did the very same thing. They almost completely axed WAH, and it was a VERY WAH culture. As an intern even, I would WAH 3-4 days a week and that was pretty common. Now, you need a verifiable reason to WAH.
I think Marissa Meyer is a lightening rod (as was mentioned above, damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t) and IBM simply wasn’t as interesting when they made the change. Making this into a Mommy issue happens to ignite debate and controversy.
Having done a lot of WAH when I was there and virtually none now since it’s not really permissible at my current job, I’m of the opinion that in a collaborative environment, face to face wins. I support her decision. WAH was awesome for me, but I work harder and get more done in an office with colleagues.
Twitter: jamiemcq15
The relevant point I left out. IBM’s CEO was a dude.
Jamie M. recently posted..Going Streaking!
Twitter: jamiemcq15
While it is disappointing from a “she’s a mom” standpoint, this shouldn’t be viewed in any other way than a business decision. If a job doesn’t fit your schedule or life, then find another job. That sounds harsh but it’s a business – it’s not there to make its employees lives easier, but to make money. I think it’s perfectly acceptable to remove these positions.
I guess I just feel that is a sad way to look at it. Yes, companies are ultimately out to make money and to worry about their bottom line — but it has been shown in many studies that WAH can actually be more productive and better for the bottom line. Also, it just seems sad to look at business as not caring about the people that make them great. Without good people within a company, the company will fail — and yes, I do think sometimes this includes making employees lives a bit easier – not necessarily by working from home, but at least through some flexibility, wellness programs, health benefits, good working conditions — to increase productivity and happiness of the employees. Happy employees are usually more loyal and better workers.
Jamie recently posted..February 2013 Round-Up
I work for a large company who allows for telecommuting (in most organizatons of the company). We are required to have childcare for the entire time that we are at home. I have no issue with this, as I know there is no way I’d get anything done with a toddler here. I do not agree with the entire telecommuting benefit being stripped from employees (especially when the Yahoo! CEO has a nursery next to her office, but the same benefit is not given to her minions). I strongly believe that telecommuting benefits should have controls in place, as there are definitely people who milk the system.
Shame on Marissa Mayer for her throwing the baby out with the bathwater mentality. Yes, she has a right to do it, but whether she likes it or not, her new position has put her in a level where she has the ability to shape how working moms are treated at other companies. I do wonder though what the reaction would be to a male CEO doing the same thing – including creating a place next to his office for his child.
I agree — when I am working my kids either are asleep or in someone else’s primary care. The few times I have attempted to work while also tending to their needs have not been enjoyable.
I think if a man put a nursery next to his office society would sing his praises. But I do think this move would be questioned — especially due to the online nature of Yahoo’s business – no matter what gender the CEO may be.
Jamie recently posted..February 2013 Round-Up