Last week, Marissa Mayer, current CEO of Yahoo!, declared to her Yahoo! employees they were no longer allowed to telecommute, a change to begin June of this year. I was amazed to hear about her bold move to make it mandatory to work in the office, or as the memo, sent by Yahoo!’s human resources head Jackie Reses, actually reads, “We need to be one Yahoo!., and that starts with physically being together.”
I think Mayer’s move represents that very issue our technological society is facing today; the loss of personal interaction and collaboration.
As you can imagine and have probably seen, this angered many of Yahoo!’s employees, as well as many people who aren’t even employed by Yahoo!, as many of them are full time telecommuters. These are people who are worried this move could greatly damage the future of the work industry. There was also a huge uproar amongst women due to the fact many of them are telecommuters in order to allow for the exhausting job of being mothers as well. Now, I’m going to get this out of the way here: Telecommuting should not be taken away in today’s workforce. It is a flexible and necessary means of productivity in the workforce and especially in the future of the workforce—if used properly. The problem is that it’s not always used properly.
As I discussed in my previous column, I see some problems with the technological advances of our society. As a result of technology, telecommuting has been made possible. Technology has helped society, but its overuse has also caused many problems. We are a multitasking society—that cannot effectively multi-task. Overuse of technology also decreases our ability to communicate and collaborate face-to-face. Technology and social media are damaging in the social sector of our lives (oh, the irony), but Mayer is addressing the problems created in today’s workforce, and good for her.
In response to the outrage, later in the week, Mayer attempted to make clear her plan was not about making an impression on the industry, but was solely about the position Yahoo! was in. According to an article in Forbes, Google, with 53,861 employees, generates $931,657 per worker, which is 170 percent more than the $344, 758 Yahoo generates per worker. Yahoo! clearly has a productivity issue, and that is what Mayer is trying to get at.
Not all companies should adapt a no-telecommuting policy because, let’s be honest, that would never fly. We are not in the old days anymore. People want to be able to control their schedules and balance their lives, which they should be able to do if they are able to get all their work done. But this is about Yahoo!. This isn’t about Mayer attempting to start a slippery slope trend in which all companies should follow suit: In fact, I don’t believe she would even wield enough power to trigger such a trend.
But, Mayer’s plan might work at Yahoo! and we should let her do her job. This is going to bring the employees together in a fast-paced and changing society where face-to-face relationships and collaboration are becoming less frequent. When it comes to the work place, I feel creating relationships with colleagues is one of the best parts about a job, and collaboration is necessary for innovation. I have found in previous experiences the most creativity is sparked when great minds come together. Yes, some will argue they collaborate better over the internet and from home because they’re happier employees being able to work a flexible schedule. But Yahoo!’s case suggests otherwise. If Yahoo! is staggering in creativity, bringing its workers together may get the ball rolling. Let her try it! If it fails, then we’ll know there is a different problem.
When it comes to their lagging productivity rate, it is smart of Mayer to try something new. Clearly, there are some workers who are abusing the telecommuting policy. We’ve all been lazy at least once in our lives and staying productive without peers or colleagues cheering us on can really make productivity difficult (college students know what I mean). While some people may be angered, forcing their productivity levels to drop, some will work harder when not distracted by home life. Some will work harder simply because they are surrounded by their colleagues. It’s an experiment, which I do not think will break Yahoo!. It is perhaps brazen to try to bolster our ever changing society, but it’s not a crime to try something new. And if it could potentially be for the best, saving the productivity, relationships and personal dynamic of Yahoo!’s work force, Mayer’s idea for Yahoo! is certainly worth a try. And even though many of us are not Yahoo! employees who are directly affected, we just might see that we need to “physically be together” sometimes to make the most out of our lives, whether it be our social lives or our working lives. Why go to college with in-person lectures and discussion sections if we could just take our classes online? Because in-person collaboration is necessary and an important part of our learning and growth process. Something to think about.
Haleigh is a junior majoring in political science. Where do you stand on Marissa Mayer’s move against telecommuting? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
