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Putting Away My Pitchfork: The Yahoo Remote Worker Announcement

1 minute read

On February 22nd, 2013, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer announced that all remote employees will be required to work from their local Yahoo! office by June.

The internet grabbed its pitchforks and lit its torches then exploded with anger and derision.

Does this announcement place a hardship on remote Yahoo! employees? Probably.

Is this a draconian move by Mayer? It seems that way.

Would I have done the same in her place? I don’t know. And neither do you.

The fact of the matter is that none of us are in her place. As a company, Yahoo! has been foundering for years and Mayer is now at the wheel trying to right the ship. I’m not their CEO. Neither are you (unless you actually are Marissa, in which case, “Hi!”).

To be entirely clear and open: My initial reaction to the announcement was horror and anger. I am a supporter of remote working arrangements, and not only because I have one myself. I realize that there are good people everywhere and setting up an infrastructure to support remote workers allows companies to find the best people for the job, no matter where they’re located. However I also realize that without the appropriate infrastructure a remote working arrangement can be disastrous to a product and a company. It’s not for everyone. It’s not for every company.

Mayer is many things, but one thing she is not is a fool. Before this decision was announced she knew it wouldn’t play in Peoria. She knew there would be PR fallout. She knew the internet would cast her in the role of the wicked witch. She also knew a hell of a lot of other details to which none of us are privy.

This could not have been a swift decision, made in a moment of passion. Undoubtedly it was researched, calculated and discussed ad nauseam. Without access to that research and the discussions around it, none of us can know whether this is a good decision for Yahoo!.

I feel for the Yahooligans who now must uproot their working lives, I truly do. But I’m going to resist my impulse to pillory Marissa Mayer for her decision until I know more about what led to it.