Unlike Yahoo and Best Buy, most major firms will continue giving their employees the option to work from home, according to a new survey.
In a move to transform struggling search engine giant Yahoo, Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer announced that working from home would no longer be an option for employees of the company. Best Buy followed suit, but said that if a manager feels a person requires to work from home, he or she can be granted permission to do so.
A new survey shows that not many other firms are planning to apply similar rules to their company. Challengers, Gray & Christmas Inc., a global outplacement and executive coaching firm conducted a survey on 120 human resources executives. From the 97 percent that responded, 80 percent of them said they had no intentions of eliminating telecommuting.
"When major companies like Yahoo and Best Buy make notable policy changes, there is no doubt that other employers will take notice and some may even re-evaluate their policies," said John A. Challenger, chief executive of the firm. "However, it would be misguided to assume that other companies will follow blindly without considering their own unique circumstances."
Most companies that took part in the survey do not have a policy on telecommuting. It was found that while less than 10 percent offer the flexible arrangement to all employees, 40 percent offer the option to some employees. Thirty percent of the companies did not have a formal policy to work from home but allow their workers to do so on occasions.
Experts predict that this move to abolish work from home could have negative consequences as by doing so, it also removes all the other benefits that come with working from home.
"What's really troubling about this is that a technology company can't figure out how to collaborate remotely," said Kate Lister, president of the Telework Research Center. "[This decision] runs counter to worldwide trends toward more remote work."