[WindRide]

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has banned "work from home" facility for its employees starting June of this year.
I make maximum use of this facility at work and avoid the horrible traffic during office hours. So am worried if my employer decides to follow this trend ;-)

[srishiva]

It should not be mandatory and should be flexible.
As its said, working together is good for innovation and working from home is good for productivity. Depends on what you do.

[Schoudhury]

Originally Posted by WindRide

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has banned "work from home" facility for its employees starting June of this year.
I make maximum use of this facility at work and avoid the horrible traffic during office hours. So am worried if my employer decides to follow this trend ;-)

Is the ban applicable only to Indian employees?
If its not then what will happen to employees in US and all countries where they setup their home office and stuff .
I don't think it gonna work out.

Cheers

[Soumyajit9]

Ahhhh !! Finally the axe is coming to India !

Well, WFH has its Pros and Cons.

From an International (UK, US, EU, etc) employee perspective, this would mean a lot of negative feedback. The work-life balance is just perfect over there and this move would certainly gain negativity from many employees. I have my own stories about how foreigners prioritize (rather balance) their personal and work life.

From an Indian employee perspective, it would gain very few negative comments as majority of Indian (outsourced) companies do not have a regular WFH schedule. It is on the behest of the respective project manager how he/she manages an employee.
Majority of these Indian IT Companies have a Service Oriented model, which would require constant communication with international clients. WFH is not a very good option, even though you use the best of internet service at home. Also, nobody would like to take the blame if the home network goes down and the client is fuming.

[alpha1]

What work from home?
As far as I know (and can see around), Indian companies just speak big but don't implement it. So there was no work from home to begin with ...

[@Chaand]

IBM was one org (not indian), which officially implemented WFH. I know a few folks from IBM who have not visited their workplaces for months together.

[kvish]

Not sure if its just me, but Work from Home never worked ! There are so many distractions... I would have been on TBHP the whole day. In office, at the very least, I close it because someone is looking

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Ahhhh !! Finally the axe is coming to India !

Well, WFH has its Pros and Cons.

From an International (UK, US, EU, etc) employee perspective, this would mean a lot of negative feedback. The work-life balance is just perfect over there and this move would certainly gain negativity from many employees. I have my own stories about how foreigners prioritize (rather balance) their personal and work life.

From an Indian employee perspective, it would gain very few negative comments as majority of Indian (outsourced) companies do not have a regular WFH schedule. It is on the behest of the respective project manager how he/she manages an employee.
Majority of these Indian IT Companies have a Service Oriented model, which would require constant communication with international clients. WFH is not a very good option, even though you use the best of internet service at home. Also, nobody would like to take the blame if the home network goes down and the client is fuming.

Tell me about it;until last month i was working on Saturdays,and office premises is closed on weekends so i had to work from home.
Since i stay in a cantonment,no private ISP are there so i had to rely on BSNL broadband,and there was an instance,where in had to write an explanation just for the reason that BSNL network went down.

[sumathindra]

What's the whole point in stopping the WFH culture? If this decision is taken then there out to be some strong logic driving this decision.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by sumathindra

What's the whole point in stopping the WFH culture? If this decision is taken then there out to be some strong logic driving this decision.

There has to be some reason behind this.
I can think of
1)Loss of productivity.
2)Low attendance in office premises.

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by kvish

Not sure if its just me, but Work from Home never worked ! There are so many distractions... I would have been on TBHP the whole day. In office, at the very least, I close it because someone is looking

+100 to that !! That is one of a major reason, I dislike WFH. But again, who doesn't love that 1hr power nap at home post lunch when WFH, or quick switching of sports and movie channels during work.

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Tell me about it;until last month i was working on Saturdays,and office premises is closed on weekends so i had to work from home.
Since i stay in a cantonment,no private ISP are there so i had to rely on BSNL broadband,and there was an instance,where in had to write an explanation just for the reason that BSNL network went down.

I have faced this problem many times. The previous project I was working required all employees to come to office on weekends. The leads were allowed to WFH. And they gave me a data card from a reliable company. Many a times, I had to rush 22kms to office just because the data card was not catching any response and the resolution time of that ISPs' was > 24hrs. What a pain it was.

But again, if your job requires you to work on weekends, the company premises should be kept open with basic facilities (like AC, Drinking water, Restrooms). I guess this is a Govt. laid rule for all companies (Pvt / Public).

[msdivy]

The 'other' side of the story - Ex-Yahoos Confess: Marissa Mayer Is Right To Ban Working From Home

Memo from Yahoo HR boss Jackie Reses:

YAHOO! PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION — DO NOT FORWARD

Yahoos,

Over the past few months, we have introduced a number of great benefits and tools to make us more productive, efficient and fun. With the introduction of initiatives like FYI, Goals and PB&J, we want everyone to participate in our culture and contribute to the positive momentum. From Sunnyvale to Santa Monica, Bangalore to Beijing — I think we can all feel the energy and buzz in our offices.

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 judgment 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.

Thanks to all of you, we’ve already made remarkable progress as a company — and the best is yet to come.

Jackie

PS: I am no way associated with Yahoo. This quote is from a news site.

[srishiva]

This is what Google does and Yahoo is following that model. But they do provide great facilities at work. Some company closes all doors and opens one door so that people interact, see each other and gel as a company.

[Tats07]

Well, I believe it should be opted for only in case of dire necessities, and should not be a regular practice. I personally have seen a lack of discipline in work from home cases in the Indian context, which is often not the case for foreign work force. Many a time, people are busy with their personal engagements, and not really 'working' from home. They use this as a tool to avoid taking leave.

I'm not generalizing, but speaking based on my personal experience. It might a good model for many, just that I'm doubting the sanctity of the word 'work' in some cases.

[Shiv_1984]

The yahoo decision is applicable only for their Asia Pacific operations, the reason being Less productivity and detoriating Quality of deliverables.
Source : An ex-colleague

I agree with few members here, WFH certainly affects the quality of your output. It's really difficult to watch TV and write Bug free code. Frankly speaking you are doing nothing that way.
Moreover, WFH was meant to be a way where employees can work and keep contributing to business even if they have a genuine reason for not coming to office.

Is it the same way still ? I know few friends who decide to W4H sometimes just because their wives are off that day

Cool !!!