HP employees can no longer work from home

While Hewlett-Packard’s (HP) CEO Meg Whitman hasn’t issued a ban on telecommuting, she said in an undated Q&A document sent to employees that “HP needs all hands on deck”.

In the document, which was shared with AllThingsD, Whitman goes on to say: “We recognise that in the past, we may have asked certain employees to work from home for various reasons.

“We now need to build a stronger culture of engagement and collaboration and the more employees we get into the office the better company we will be.”

An insider familiar with HP told AllThingsD the company is tightening policies around telecommuting, and decisions over who is allowed to work from home will be made at a higher management level.

The changes are in line with HP’s move to focus on "developing workplaces that attract employees to the office and encourage effective and collaborative work", a statement released to AllThingsD said.

"Our investments in real estate and IT infrastructure have made it possible to now accommodate more employees in the office and also support new styles of working which we believe will further HP’s business strategies and objectives. Flexibility continues to be a core operating principle at HP."

Earlier this year, Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer announced in a leaked memo the company was putting a stop to telecommuting. In the closing address of the Great Place to Work conference in Los Angeles last April, Mayer backed her decision, saying employees were more collaborative and innovative when they worked together.