Yahoo | Parenting In the Loop

Working moms of all stripes were excited last summer when Yahoo! named Marissa Mayer CEO, even as her maternity leave loomed just a few months away. Yes, she soon concerned us fellow working parents when she immediately committed publically to a two-week maternity leave. But I still had hope. We all knew she had a troubled company to turn around — maybe her plan was to lead by example with a flexible work schedule?

via Marissa Mayer, Flexibility Isn’t the Problem at Yahoo! | workingmother.com.

As a registered nurse, I was never part of a workforce that could work remotely or from home. We did have “flex-time”, which was another type of scheduling option that allowed us some amount of work time flexibility.

I have to admit, that I am not that surprised by Marissa Mayer’s policy change at Yahoo, since she opted for only a 2 week maternity leave. Most moms and even dads realize that 2 weeks is hardly enough time to get to know a newborn much less appreciate the entire lifestyle change brought on by the birth of a child especially when it is your firstborn. But when you are a CEO of a large tech company, it seems, perhaps motherhood has to take a backseat to your corporate responsibility.

Working from home is not new…it would seem that Yahoo because of its’ technology focus would embrace this flexible work from home concept and welcome today’s generation into this ever changing tech environment. It would also seem not unreasonable that Yahoo would look to other companies like Google, that offer so many worker friendly amenities in their fiercely competitive corporation.

To me, making the workplace friendly to moms and dads with family friendly perks makes so much sense. A happy worker is usually a productive worker.

Marissa, I would say, you have really missed a few rungs along the way up the corporate ladder and I think you may find out that it is very lonely at the top, sooner than you ever imagined.

Moms and dads what do you think about this policy change at Yahoo?

Do you think other companies will do the same?