As almost everyone in the tech world (and beyond) knows by now, the CEO of Yahoo!, Marissa Mayer, recently announced that all employees are required to work from the office, and that working remotely will no longer be tolerated. Almost immediately, the blogosphere was up in arms -- people who work in all sectors were outraged at the lack of respect for the work-life balance, quick to argue that they are more productive working from home and actually tend to work longer hours. Almost all the arguments against Mayer's new rule that I saw were from the perspective of people in support of working parents who need that flexibility. Many pointed out that Mayer herself should understand the need to prioritize work as well as taking care of a newborn, as she was pregnant when she started as Yahoo!'s CEO last year. However, what I did not see throughout all this debate was the argument that by no longer allowing employees to work remotely, Yahoo! is limiting accessibility for people with disabilities ("PWD").
Personally, I work from home (or "WFH") at least one day a week. On occasion, I'll WFH more than that -- during high-pain weeks, or after a particularly bad subluxation that leaves me unable to drive the 40 miles to my office safely. I try to "plan" these remote days around major deadlines and events at work, but as anyone with serious chronic pain knows, you can never plan your good or bad days. There are of days when I literally do not have the energy to walk out the front door (let alone down the stairs, let alone drive safely, let alone socialize with coworkers and colleagues.) If my company or manager were not flexible about me working from home on occasion -- as long as I'm actually getting my work done -- I would not be able to keep this job. I really doubt I am the only person (or PWD) in the country in this situation.
In terms of Yahoo!, I believe the new policy is their solution to figure out where to cut back on the workforce, as I remember reading recently that Mayer was talking about the need for major layoffs. I think it's silly and inefficient at best to insist that employees work only from the campus. There will be extra traffic on the already congested freeways, morale will be lower and in this highly-connected world, shouldn't employees be more able to work remotely? This is especially true at a tech giant like Yahoo!, with employees all over the world. When you take all that on top of the fact that it could potentially be denying accessibility (and an all-important paycheck) to any disabled employees, it does more than bother me -- it affects me.
Yahoo! is a major company. If this exercise is seen as successful, and more companies begin adopting similar policies, it could potentially jeopardize my career. My paycheck represents a big chunk of our household income. I do not goof off while working from home -- sure, I may run a load of laundry or wash some dishes while on the clock, but I'm still taking client calls and helping to onboard potential new ones, responding to emails, building and collecting materials for events, participating in conference calls and more. The only reason I'm able to maintain all that is because my job lets me work from home. Without this job and the flexibility that comes with it, I could not afford my rent and other regular expenses.
The debate about Yahoo!'s new policy is about more than working parents -- it is about accessibility for the disabled, and the discussion needs to include us.