UPI en Español  |   UPI Asia  |   About UPI  |   My Account
Search:
Go
You are here:  Home / Blog / Richard Branson not impressed with Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's new work-from-home ban

Richard Branson not impressed with Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's new work-from-home ban

Virgin's Richard Branson spoke out against Marissa Mayer's decision to ban Yahoo! employees from telecommuting.
|
 
(Credit: Wikimedia Commons) 
Published: Feb. 26, 2013 at 3:31 PM
By KATE STANTON, UPI.com

Virgin Group's Richard Branson, who knows a thing or two about running a billion-dollar business, criticized Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer on Monday for ending the company's remote working policy.

The adventurous billionaire businessman wrote on his blog that he found Mayer's decision a "perplexing" "step backward" for a modern-day organization like Yahoo!.

To successfully work with other people, you have to trust each other. A big part of this is trusting people to get their work done wherever they are, without supervision. It is the art of delegation, which has served Virgin and many other companies well over the years.

We like to give people the freedom to work where they want, safe in the knowledge that they have the drive and expertise to perform excellently, whether they at their desk or in their kitchen. Yours truly has never worked out of an office, and never will.

...

Working life isn't 9-5 any more. The world is connected. Companies that do not embrace this are missing a trick.

Mayer's decree launched a global debate about the respective values of working at home or in the office. Yahoo! explained the new policy in a memo to employees posted by Allthingsd.com last week.

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.

Recommended Stories
© 2013 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
'Star Trek Into Darkness' screening NBC upfronts Met Ball 2013
'Great Gatsby' premieres in New York Spire raised on top of One WTC 2013: Celebrity break ups and divorces
Most Popular
Stories Photos Comments
Featured Photos
1 of 18
Palestinian Security Forces Patrol the Border With Egypt.
View Caption
A members of the Hamas security forces patrol the border area between Gaza and Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip May 20, 2013. Egyptian police angered by the kidnapping of seven colleagues by Islamist gunmen kept a crossing into the Gaza Strip closed again for four days, stranding hundreds of Palestinian travellers, As Tunnels between Egypt and Gaza closed and border was declared as military zone. Palestinian security forces patrol around the border, witnesses said. UPI/Ismael Mohamad
fark
3rd Annual Geek Pride Night @SkyBar in Bowling Green, OH, 8p May 22, Farkers welcome to the party...
Vertical Pink Houses may be the future of farming. John Mellencamp unavailable for comment
Photoshop this foxy gaze
From a new romance novel inspired by Michelle Bachmann: "He touched the void inside her, pollinating...
Hey, anyone want a free lighthouse?
Elizabeth Smart is awesome for many reasons. Most of all - telling Nancy Grace to STFU