Yahoo Tells Employees to Work From Anywhere And Commute by Plane; All Expenses Paid!

Covid -19 has led to numerous world-changing decisions beyond imagination. The lure of going to the cinema with a tub of popcorn and a jar of soda, has been vastly dampened by the OTT platforms churning out in hundreds every month. Where work from home earlier was just an emergency option, has now been in existence for the past two years. 

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As it turns out Yahoo Japan has become one of the leading companies to start permanent “Work From Home”. This week, Yahoo Japan told all of its 8,100 employees that they can work from anywhere in the country. This new policy will be ffective from April 1, 2022.

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Not discounting the work that needs to take place in the office, Yahoo Japan will fly workers into work when and if it is required. All on the company's account! More than 90% of employees are already working at home.

Why did Yahoo Japan take this momentous decision?

Japan is known for its tough working hours and rigorous working culture. This decision of working from home is in huge contrast to its earlier policy for employees. What actually led to this decision?

Well, for starters, this major decision came after the Japanese Firm “Panasonic” gave workers an optional four-day week. They did this to strike a better work-life balance. On their days off, it would also allow employees to take other jobs to supplement their decisions.

According to Panasonic CEO, Yuki Kusumi, “Our responsibility is to strike an ideal balance between the work style and lifestyle for our diverse human capital.”

When Yahoo Japan conducted various surveys and communicated with its employees, 90% of the employees said that their work performance did not change or improve, Yahoo decided to liberalize the place where employees live in Japan. 

“We're allowing Yahoo employees to live anywhere in Japan,” Yahoo President Kentaro Kawabe said. “This doesn't mean we're denying the benefits of the office - you'll be able to fly in when needed. Rather than tying employees to the office, we have turned to focus on improving employee well-being and the motivation and creativity that results from it," Kawabe added.

Before the pandemic, Yahoo had allowed its employees some flexible home working but had capped the number of remote days at five per month. Yahoo is now lifting the cap and setting a commuting budget of £950 ($1,300) per month per worker instead.

The Working-World

According to FindStack.com, about 18% of employees across the world work remotely full-time. However, 44% of companies don't allow their employees to work remotely at all. According to a report by Owl Labs, in 2021, 70% of people who worked from home during the pandemic report virtual meetings are less stressful and 64% now prefer hybrid meetings. A study by Stanford of 16,000 workers over nine months found that working from home increased productivity by 13%. 

Another change that has been tried all around the world, which has been in existence even before the pandemic, has been a four-day working week. Technology companies worldwide have tried to reduce their attrition rate by offering shorter working weeks, with American giant Amazon trialing a four-day week in 2018. 

Britain’s first smartphone-based bank, Atom Bank started a four-day working week for the same pay in November 2021. Meanwhile, Microsoft Japan reported its sales rocketed by nearly 40 percent in 2019 when it tried a four-day week on full pay in 2019.

And finally, the study conducted from 2015 to 2019, where the employees worked for “four-day” in a week was deemed “overwhelming success.” Workers were reported to be less stressed and there was no decrease in productivity or delivery of services.

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