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| I'm a little verklempt... Talk Amongst Yourselves |
Does anyone else remember the "Coffee Talk" sketches on Saturday Night Live with Mike Myers? I loved them! For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about this was a sketch where Mike Myers played Linda Richman a stereotypical Jewish woman with an exaggerated New York accent who hosted a show called Coffee Talk with her friends. She was obsessed with Barbara Steisand and thought everything was "like buttah." It was hilarious. Do yourself a favor and go YouTube it!
Anyway, back to 2013, I'm going to try and start a series on the blog called Coffee Talk where we actually discuss current events going on that I feel are worth sharing.
First one...the topic is working from home, which generally means juggling work while caring for children. Although this can affect men, it's typically women who take on a telecommuting or flexible work schedule to try and do it all or be superwoman.
This week in the news, Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer banned all Yahoo employees from working from home. Everyone who was telecommuting must now report to the office or find a new place to work. Those for this decision argue that you can not be as productive while working from home. Those against the decision fear that other companies will follow suit and end their own telecommuting program.
Although women were encouraged when Mayer, age 37, was appointed CEO of Yahoo last year becuase of her gender and age, many feel disappointed in the direction she has taken things. Mayer, who was pregnant when she took on the CEO role, only took 2 weeks of maternity leave. Now banning flexible work situations for others, while she has a private nursery setup next door to her own office, women fear she is setting unrealistic expectations for the "real world" working mother.
I'm very sensitive to this topic not only a feminist, but as a soon to be working mother. Although I will not be working from home 100% of the time, it's certainly an option for me in certain situations including maternity leave. On the other hand, I don't think every role and every employee is suited for telecommuting.
There's your topic...
Discuss!
Marissa Mayer came from Google where the in-office atmosphere was fun, creative and promoted teamwork which will always benefit the company. I don't believe that she's doing this to intentionally punish working parents, but instead as a sound business practice to save the sinking ship that is Yahoo. It might not be permanent and there might be some sort of flexibility worked in there at some point, but I assume as the highly paid CEO of Yahoo, she's going to do what she feels is necessary to produce a profitable company.
ReplyDeleteI also think that she is under an enormous amount of scrutiny that a male CEO might not receive if he made a similar decision. Mayer didn't take this job so that she could be the poster-child for working mothers and make a statement about women in the workforce - I think she took it because it was a strategic career move and she saw value in heading up Yahoo. I think it is unfair that people are placing these expectations on her regarding the motherhood-working balance. Imagine the backlash if Mayer DIDN'T have children and she made this decision! Yikes.