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

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.

Related

• Yahoo! cancels work-at-home policy
• Yahoo! debuts re-designed home page
• Prince Harry to take new girlfriend Cressida Bonas to Sam Branson's wedding
• Virgin Produced developing cable drama about famous club Whisky A Go Go
• Retailer Virgin France calls it quits

...

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.