Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Marissa Mayer - A Bad Name for Working Moms?

You may have heard, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer has decided to take away work at home privileges starting in June. I understand that to some, this is the most fair way of creating a good work atmosphere. Everyone has to be at work, 5 days a week, 8-5. You have to take an off day to let in the guy to install your dishwasher or when your kid is sick. You can't take an extra long lunch to visit your kid's school and then work a little later. While I don't agree with this idea, I can see why some people do. However, Marissa doesn't have to worry about sick kids or a child who needs to nurse a little longer because she built (with her own money) a nursery for her baby near her office. So while everyone else has to take an off day to be with their child, she can take time while working to be with hers. This is not fair and will not boost morale or office comradery, the goals Marissa seems to have.

Why do I like the idea of working from home? Sometimes I am just more productive when I'm at home, alone. We set up a space that is devoted as an office space. Sometimes at work people come in to talk about something completely non-work related. It interrupts my stream of thought so I have to get myself back into the spirit of my thoughts and start again. Sometimes it's just more comfortable to work in my pajamas. If Buddy has a doctor appointment I can work for most of the day without having to worry about my commute, taking more time off so I can pick him up from daycare and get to the appointment on time. If he has to get shots, I can take care of him and then work at night when he goes to bed. Sometimes I just need a break from working in the middle of the day. I can take a half hour and just hang out, then get back to work with a clear mind and work into the evening. It takes me about 45 minutes to get from my house, to the bus stop, onto the bus and into work. That's 1.5 hours of commuting time every day when I could be working at home. I understand I can't do this all the time and am at work more often than not, but I think taking some days to work at home make me more productive in the long run. Of course, this depends on the kind of job one has, but in this age, most salaried jobs are computer-based and could definitely be done from anywhere.

What do you think?

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