Of all the companies you would assume to be in favor of telecommuting, Yahoo is probably near the top of the list. But the new CEO of this mega-corporation is putting the kibosh on this practice. In the coy “We means You” language used by HR directors the world over, the head of HR at Yahoo subtly accused employees of slacking off when they weren’t under the watchful eye of management. Her statement read, in part, “Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home. We need to be one Yahoo, and that starts with physically being together.” So, it’s back to the office just when it seemed that remote working was really taking off. This is not going over well with employees who consider flexible working arrangements an important aspect of their job. Many who have structured their lives around being able to work-from-home may be walking out the office door for good.

OfficingToday.com speculates that other corporations might follow suit in curtailing flexible working options. Of course, companies that want to bring all their employees back on site will have to start ramping up their office furniture procurement again to meet the needs of these workers. Maybe we should shoot Yahoo an email and let them know they can send us an RFQ…