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Hundreds of Yahoo employees who have grown accustomed to working from home will see that all change soon after their new CEO Marissa Mayer sent out a memo asking that all of her employees begin working in-house.  Many employees have not taken the news well and adding to the controversy are reports that Mayer had a nursery built into her office for personal use after her son was born last fall.  Some feel if it is unfair for Mayer to take her child to work and adapt her office to be more like home while forcing employees to abandon their work-from-home set up.

Aside from being seen as unfair, research shows bringing everyone into the office can lead to less productivity and unnecessary spending.  The Huffington Post sites a Stanford study that found workers who telecommuted for a Chinese travel agency actually took fewer sick days, got more work done and were generally more satisfied than those who made the daily trek to the office. On top of increasing productivity, studies have also proven that working from home can save companies money. A study conducted by Cisco shows that the company is able to save $277 million by allowing employees to telecommute.

But maybe Mayer’s decision to ban telecommuting from Yahoo has more to do with bringing employees together in a more collaborative setting. CNN reports about her decision and how she aims to increase collaboration and communication speed within the company. Mayer explains in her memo how working in the office will help with these aspects writing, “To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices.”

What do you think of companies that allow employees to work from home?

Do you think telecommuting can be just as or even more productive than working in the office?