Yahoo! board chairman steps down

The Yahoo sign in Times Square is seen in this 18 January, 2006 file photo in New York. Picture: AFP/Don Emmert/FILES Source: AFP

YAHOO! on Thursday announced that the chairman of the board was stepping down as freshly-minted chief Marissa Mayer forges ahead with an effort to revive the struggling Internet pioneer.

Fred Amoroso will not seek reelection to the board of directors at the upcoming 2013 annual meeting of shareholders, Yahoo! said in a release.

Maynard Webb Jr. was appointed to take over as chairman of the board, with Amoroso serving as a member until the shareholder meeting on June 25.

"Fred has been a wonderful chairman for Yahoo! over the past year, and I'm personally grateful for his trust and guidance as I took on the role as Yahoo! CEO," said Yahoo! chief executive Mayer.

"Fred's mentorship and perspective has proved truly valuable to me in my first few months here at Yahoo!."

Mayer took over the helm of Yahoo! in July of last year. Mayer had been a high-ranking executive at Google, which she joined in 1999 as its 20th employee and the first female engineer hired.

Yahoo! has been trying to reinvent itself as a "premier digital media" company since the Internet search service found itself withering in Google's shadow.

At the time of Mayer's hiring, Amoroso touted her as the ideal person for the job of Yahoo! chief.

Amoroso said that he told the board from the outset that he only intended to serve as chairman for a year.

"I'm very grateful and proud of the progress Yahoo! has made over the past year," Amoroso said in a release on Thursday.

"With Marissa at the helm and the leadership team in place, this is a natural time for me to transition off the board, consistent with what I said a year ago."

After Amoroso leaves, the Yahoo! board will have 10 members.

gc/rcw

View the original article here

Yahoo staff told to work in an office...or quit

Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer has banned working from home. AP Photo/Evan Agostini Source: The Daily Telegraph

• Yahoo bans working from home
• Employees must work in an office by June
• Extreme shortages: Engineers and accountants

YAHOO CEO Marissa Mayer has put her foot down on working from home sending a memo to all employees saying they must work in the office or quit.

Eight months after stepping into the top job at Yahoo, Ms Mayer has clamped down on the huge number of employees working from home, arguing that interactions and experiences are part of the job.

The memo said that speed and quality are often sacrificed when employees are working from home and advised employees that if they couldn't, or wouldn't come to the office they should quit.

"We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together," read the memo from HR head Jackie Reses that was leaked to AllthingsD

A source familiar with Ms Mayer's decision to ban working from home told The Business Insider that Mayer believed Yahoo had become fat and lazy, many home-workers weren’t productive, were never seen and people didn't know they were working with Yahoo.

Ms Mayer saw it as a cost-cutting exercise too, according to the source.

“She knows that some remote workers won't want to start coming into the office and so they will quit. That helps Yahoo, which needs to cut costs. It's a layoff that's not a layoff.

The announcement has sparked fierce debate with many accusing the CEO of taking the workplace back to the 1980s, despite giving other perks since she joined the company such as free iPhones and free meals.

Do you think she’s making a good call? Tell us below.
 

View the original article here