Michael Dell Goes On Record Supporting Remote Workers

Working from home took a hit earlier in the year when Marissa Mayer decided that all Yahoo employees would need to start working from a company office. The changes at Yahoo were then followed by Best Buy who similarly, pulled remote workers back into an office setting. There has been plenty of back and forth on the topic since, however it looks like not all feel the same way as Yahoo and Best Buy.

To that point, Michael Dell has shared details about how he wants half of his employees to be working from home. This would account for roughly 7,000 working from home and came as part of his company's "2020 Legacy to Good" plan. While a bit different than what we have seen with those other companies, this isn't an entirely new concept for Dell.

According to Dell vice president of Corporate Responsibility Trisa Thompson, at present roughly 20 percent of the employees are working from home. This also isn't just about letting employees work from home just to do so. Michael Dell also touched on how this is a bit of "eating your own dogfood" as some of the equipment sold by Dell enables companies to better support remote and traveling workers.

The other side and one of the more frequent arguments in favor of letting employees work from home comes down to finances. Thompson touched on this aspect by saying how Dell was able to save roughly $14 million last year. And while this aspect is not always the first argument, there is also the environment to consider. According to Thompson, by dropping the need for these workers to commute, that kept 6,735 metric tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere.

Bottom line here, while there are valid arguments for either side of the fence here, it is refreshing to see another big company stepping forward with support for remote workers.

SOURCE: Seattle PI