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Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

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Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#91

Maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with the whole "work in our offices or quit" memo sent to virtual employees a while back not paying the dividends she had hoped. Adding insult to injury, perhaps her build-out of a full private nursery in the executive suite staffed with her personal nannies while simultaneously requiring staff to stop working remotely, even part time, had a deleterious impact on morale and w…

It doesn't seem that any of the people who left were remote workers. I mean--maybe they had felt some solidarity with their remote-working coworkers--but I suspect that Yahoo's problems run a little deeper. The company promised a turnaround that hasn't happened. The people leaving largely seem to have been in positions to have a strong sense for when and how such a turnaround would come to fruition--and their actions…

Banning remote workers may not be the catalyst, but it may indeed be a valid symptom . When that memo happened I actually thought to myself that, hmm, that doesn't seem to be the kind of company I'd like to work for. And now along with this story, the first thing I remembered was that memo as it left a pretty strong impression over me.

And don't get me wrong, I understand why some companies may want people to always be present in office during business hours. But what bothered me the most was the tone, because that memo was a threat against people that, for better or worse, probably helped build Yahoo and made it what it is today.

In other words, the morale of employees could have been affected by such decisions. And unhappy employees in the creative sector are not productive employees. So you could say that they missed the turnaround. But what if they missed that turnaround because of how things are managed internally? It's not that far fetched.

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It appears there were at least some insiders who agreed that there was a lot of dead weight [1]. What I wonder is who's budgets these people were on? Shouldn't it be in some organizational unit's interest to cut people who are not productive, regardless of where they work from? * [1] http://www.businessinsider.com/ex-yahoos-confess-marissa-may...

> Shouldn't it be in some organizational unit's interest to cut people who are not productive, regardless of where they work from? Well... if you have, say, 80 people working for you, and you discover 15 are dead weight... cutting them would mean you can do your division's job with 65 people. You wouldn't have any room to argue for budget increase. That's a cynical view, but one I've seen played out a couple of times…

Firing people is emotionally taxing. That's honestly probably 85% of the reason why shitty employees can keep their jobs. Managers hate firing people and most will procrastinate endlessly if that option is available.

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What proof is there that these people were "losers" and slackers as you put it? Shitty Yahoo products.

And your evidence that they were shitty due to the remote workers exclusively is what, exactly?

You're asking for evidence to back up an assertion that was not made.

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot. Millions use Yahoo website daily and Yahoo email. Yahoo is the fourth/fifth most visited website in the world. WORLD. Yahoo's ONLY problem is that they want to be a leader in their industry. If they did not and were content with milking their content and user base, they would be boring but very profitable. Yahoo can deploy many products to its audience and be a leader again.

Serious question: Can they, though? I'm not doubting if Yahoo could build (or buy) some cool tech products and put them in front of their large audience. But the real question is whether their audience is the sort who would bite and eagerly adopt new technology. While I am sure there are exceptions, I think the bulk of people visiting Yahoo and using Yahoo properties are there because they can't or don't want to chan…

[deleted]

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot. Millions use Yahoo website daily and Yahoo email. Yahoo is the fourth/fifth most visited website in the world. WORLD. Yahoo's ONLY problem is that they want to be a leader in their industry. If they did not and were content with milking their content and user base, they would be boring but very profitable. Yahoo can deploy many products to its audience and be a leader again.

Serious question: Can they, though? I'm not doubting if Yahoo could build (or buy) some cool tech products and put them in front of their large audience. But the real question is whether their audience is the sort who would bite and eagerly adopt new technology. While I am sure there are exceptions, I think the bulk of people visiting Yahoo and using Yahoo properties are there because they can't or don't want to chan…

[deleted]

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot. Millions use Yahoo website daily and Yahoo email. Yahoo is the fourth/fifth most visited website in the world. WORLD. Yahoo's ONLY problem is that they want to be a leader in their industry. If they did not and were content with milking their content and user base, they would be boring but very profitable. Yahoo can deploy many products to its audience and be a leader again.

Serious question: Can they, though? I'm not doubting if Yahoo could build (or buy) some cool tech products and put them in front of their large audience. But the real question is whether their audience is the sort who would bite and eagerly adopt new technology. While I am sure there are exceptions, I think the bulk of people visiting Yahoo and using Yahoo properties are there because they can't or don't want to chan…

It is hard to build hit products. Think about FB what is its last internally built and independently famous hit product? YC had to invest in almost 1000 companies and yet they probably have a handful of hit consumer products? How many products should Yahoo shell out before they hit another consumer sensation?

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#98
I feel bad about such news. Ever since Marissa Mayer came they were starting to fix things with their services. Like for example Flickr was resurrected. If Marissa Mayer will leave, or if they narrow their focus, Flickr is probably not that profitable so it can stagnate again or be sold or killed. Which would be a shame.

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#99

I'm curious: how bad is it to leave a new job soon after starting (because you realize the product isn't as great as what you thought it would be/too much competition in space)? When you are a high performer, you really don't want to waste everyone's time if you end up in this bad situation. What is the professional thing to do? Asking because the article mentioned some people staying only for a few weeks. In a small…

I'd say it depends on why.

My personal experience is a cto totally lied about a job. I was hired to do ml and ended up being a generic backend dev; nothing I worked on required any ml knowledge. I quit after 8 weeks. Oddly enough, the cto -- an early google engineer too -- was very butthurt. He told me I was childish for expecting the job description to match the job; I told him he was a liar and that was the end of that working relationship.

I definitely wouldn't be bothered by someone saying "it wasn't a fit" for a job that lasted under 3 months. In fact, I'd probably think less of you for hanging around in a bad situation for 8 months rather than just saying this isn't working and bailing fast. When I hire, if it isn't working, and we can't make it work, ending the situation quickly rather than dragging things out makes the best of a crummy situation.

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#100
post #3

What does Yahoo do? Microsoft has Windows, Office and Xbox. Amazon has massive web server and product distribution platforms. Apple has OS X and iPhone. Google has Android, search, ads, and an online office suite. What does Yahoo do? I guess they have some long-time email users and a well-liked stock tracking platform?

I think 30 percent of their business involves promoting anything Kardashian-related. On some days there are no less than 4 or 5 stories about them on the front page of their "news".
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