Disgruntled Yahoo! telecommuters have found an unlikely ally – Sir Richard Branson.
The billionaire space tourist and Virgin Airlines founder respectfully chided Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer’s recent decision to end remote work at her company. He also strongly disagreed with Mayor Michael Bloomberg who recently said that “telecommuting is one of the dumber ideas I’ve ever heard.”
Branson wrote on his Web site that he’s always worked from home and finds no problem with it.
“Many employees who work from home are extremely diligent, get their job done, and get to spend more time with their families. They waste less time commuting and get a better work/life balance. To force everybody to work in offices is old school thinking.”
While Branson respects Bloomberg and Mayer for their opinion, he thinks offices will one day be a “thing of the past.”
“In 30 years time, as technology moves forward even further, people are going to look back and wonder why offices ever existed. Do you agree that offices will one day be a thing of the past?”