Yahoo employees: quit your bitching and get back to work
About Joe HagstromJust a regular working stiff who figured out why there are people with no health insurance who are against national health insurance. They're Faux News watching idiots.
View all posts by Joe Hagstrom →
I really don’t care much about Yahoo and when it hired a new CEO, Marissa Mayer, I still didn’t care. I rarely use Yahoo for anything.
I did, however, appreciate that Yahoo hired Ms. Mayer even though she was pregnant. Most employers run the other way from pregnant women. So good for Yahoo. And now, really good for Yahoo.
Ms. Mayer recently banned working from home. She’s taking some heat for it but I applaud her. Yahoo is getting its ass kicked by Google and something had to be done. Telling employees to come to work and be part of a work community sounds like a good idea. Ms. Mayer shows up for work. Of course she had a nursery built at the office for her baby, but I have no problem with that. As my boss tells me when he leaves early and I have to work over for him; “It’s good to be the king.” Or queen.
According to some of the websites I frequent, Ms. Mayer and Yahoo are being vilified on blogs for the new policy. Tough. She has a company to run and like it or not, sometimes the boss has to make decisions that inconvenience people for the good of the company. If someone is smart enough to work for a high tech company then surely they can find a babysitter. Most likely Yahoo will provide daycare anyway so quit your bitchin’ and get to work.
Follow MadMike’sAmerica on Facebook and Twitter, and don’t forget to visit our HOME PAGE.
If you liked our story please share it at REDDIT.COM and PINTEREST as well as TUMBLR.
Jim Moore
February 27, 2013 at 12:52 pm
Hear, hear!
I am a consultant, and I have a home-based office. There are many advantages, but there are disadvantages as well.
In a collaborative workplace…where creativity, inspiration and, dare I say it, competition are essential ingredients to success…NOTHING beats face-to-face contact.
I recognize that work-from-home moms may be disadvantaged by the need to secure day-care, or in this case, God forbid, have to bring their child to company daycare. And commuting costs money. But in an environment such as Yahoo, not only are these impacts mitigated by good pay and work-provided support services, we must remember that this is how the rest of us live.
I understand and empathize with employees who are being forced to return to the workplace after a stint as a home-shored worker. If home-shoring was a perfect fit for you, the change requires sacrifice. But it is, after all, a job….and it’s a damned good job at that. Working for Yahoo is an opportunity many of us would die for.
Step back. Take a breath. Look at the rest of the world’s workforce and count your blessings. Now go to work.
James Smith
February 27, 2013 at 1:53 pm
As someone who has often worked from home as an independent technical writer, I appreciate the advantages to me. There were also advantages to the company as I generally was able to get more work done without the interruptions present in any office. Still, there were plenty of times when I needed to interact with engineers, programmers or others. I always made time for that and never had a problem with a client about it.
Yahoo is doing what is necessary for the company. Yes, qwitherbitchin and get to work.
Jim Moore
February 27, 2013 at 2:13 pm
James Smith: I agree that, as an independent contractor (consultant, or tech writer), the rules are different for us. We live and die by our performance for clients. We are not employees. There is, as you know, quite a difference.
This indulgence…to read and respond to MM posts…is something I pay for elsewhere in my day – often at 9 PM as I am still working until the job is done.
Yahoo’s VPN records showed this wasn’t always the case.
Joe Hagstrom
February 27, 2013 at 2:11 pm
Thanks guys. I figured I’d take some heat for this one.
Michael John Scott
February 27, 2013 at 2:23 pm
I’ve worked at home for the last 10 years, and my biggest problem is discipline. I can be in the middle of an article and get distracted by FaceBook of all things, or the phone, or barking dogs, or lunch…or…well you get the idea. I’m getting better though so I’ll quit my bitchin’
Jim Moore
February 27, 2013 at 2:29 pm
MJS, you’re fired.
Michael John Scott
February 27, 2013 at 2:46 pm
LOL. I get it Jim, and I would probably be forced to fire me
Thankfully, as Joe mentioned in his article: it’s good to be King 
Carol Maietta
February 27, 2013 at 5:20 pm
I’m sure they tracked computer use and discovered the pendulum had swung too far the other way and there were people taking advantage. Being the top HR person in an organization, I would have hated to send out that communication. That was a no win situation. The broad stroke approach to stopping the working from home will damage their relationship with all employees and lots of damage recovery will be of utmost importance. Including, possible third party organizing (unions).
Joe Hagstrom
February 27, 2013 at 6:29 pm
I’m sure the working from home perk will be reinstated once those who took advantage are weeded out. Not a nice way to put it but we all have firsthand experience having to pick up the slack of a few fellow employees that just suck.