Personally, I've seen a lot of qualitative analysis and anecdotal evidence to support remote working, specifically when it comes to technology companies. I've w

Personally, I've seen a lot of qualitative analysis and anecdotal evidence to support remote working, specifically when it comes to technology companies. I've worked with a notable company who almost exclusively used remote employees and, from that experience, would never advocate remote work on a regular basis. It certainly has a place, for specific people of good standing and character who are put in an extraneous circumstance; but I've consistently observed what I believe Mayer has: smart people in the same space day after day will breed a more innovative, collaborative culture. Most of the criticism that I've observed regarding the announcement seems to reek of the opinion that telecommuting is a "Good Thing" and that anyone who can't see that is missing the forest for the trees. This usually goes in hand with laughable academic braying and vaunted statistics about (some number less than 40) hour work weeks. Forgoing my inclination to rant about how that kind of opinion is generally cancerous to an organization trying to change the landscape of it's industry through creativity, I think that Yahoo! is in a position where it can't afford to treat their employees like a productive group. And to that effect, it's much easier to identify shit employees who show up an hour+ late and leave with the herd at 5pm when you(or your managers) can observe that behavior regularly. Regardless of their output, I've observed that people who can't be bothered to adhere to simple routine will become an abrasive factor in a fast moving, creative culture; and tend to inevitably diminish the effectiveness of their peers. That kind of situation is the last thing that Yahoo! needs at the moment. If Yahoo! can get out from under it's own sense of prior accomplishment and entitlement, and I remain confident that Mayer can do this for them, I'm sure she would consider a situation like remote working when it comes to top talent. But, until that happens, everyone there should be treated like a rich son in a boarding school -- assume the worst about most of those individuals and the one's who are weighing down the company will start to show their true color.