HP To Cut Back On Telecommuting

Makarand writes "Hewlett-Packard, the company that began making flexible work arrangements for its employees starting in 1967, is cutting back on telecommuting arrangements for its IT employees. By August, almost all of HP's IT employees will have to work in one of 25 designated offices during most of the week. Those who don't wish to make this change will be out of work without severance pay. While other companies nationwide are pushing more employees to work from home to cut office costs, HP believes bringing its information-technology employees together in the office will make them swifter and smarter and allow them to be more effective."

Comments

Re:If memory serves me correctly-

[ShieldW0lf]

If there was ever an industry that smiles on the driven and responsible small entrepreneur, it is the IT industry. Most of us are to some extent or another self taught. The ones that have a self-improving and driven to achieve attitude are the ones least likely to fit into the "big company cubicle" culture. They run the show, they work in small development shops, they like to see their personal decisions put into implementation. They find reward in a job well done.

If you're working at a huge company like HP, you're not that sort of person. You're mediocre, that's why you're there. You're a person who wants security. You'll sacrifice creative control for it, you'll do a shoddy job because thats what the manager wants, you just want to get paid. You went to school for a career, and this is it. You like safe and lazy. Not the best attitudes for telecommuters.

Flat out. If you're looking for an independent self-starter, you should consider cubicle drone experience a black mark. For this reason, I'm not suprised a huge, sprawling, badly managed company like HP is having troubles with their telecommuters.

Re:Spouse and children

[bluekanoodle]

You know I always hear this sweeping generalization made from single people that they are somehow left holding the bag. I call BS.

That's like me saying I'm sick of doing all the work while the singles in the office come in hungover, or worse not all, spend all day hanging by the water cooler talking about some guy\girl they banged last night, talk on the phone all day planning dinner at their uber-cool restaurant. On top of that they have no concept of making sacrifices for the good of another person, bitch about how they are better then the breeders, and are so wrapped up in themselves that that the married people in the office end up doing all their work for them because they have to leave early to go to a doctors appt for the latest STD they caught.