I can certainly understand why current employees hired under the assumption that they could work from home are upset. But the fact of the matter is that if working from home isn't in your employment contract, then you shouldn't really count on it being acceptable forever. A company has a right to change its mind, in the same way that an employee might.
If an employee of Company X demanded to work from home two days a week for some reason otherwise he'd quit, Company X managers would weigh the cost of losing the employee against the cost of having him absent two days a week. And then they would make a decision.
I don't see how this is any different. Yahoo! has decided that being on site is a priority. Current employees may feel differently. These employees should weigh the cost of moving or commuting against the cost of finding new employment and make a decision.
All of that makes sense, but imagine you were hired away from a job at a great company within the last year. You probably can't go back, you haven't vested and you're essentially being pushed out after you were lured there with the promise of being able to work remotely. I understand that these people are free to quit, but that doesn't mean Yahoo! hasn't put them in a bad situation.
I agree it's worse when a company does it to an employee. Being forced into changing a job can have major negative effects on an individual's life, whereas Yahoo! will probably be just fine if any single person decides to quit.
It doesn't change the fact that it can happen, and this is a good reminder to the rest of us who have things promised verbally in an employment offer to have that stuff in writing. I am writing this as a warning to others and my future self.
If an employee of Company X demanded to work from home two days a week for some reason otherwise he'd quit, Company X managers would weigh the cost of losing the employee against the cost of having him absent two days a week. And then they would make a decision.
I don't see how this is any different. Yahoo! has decided that being on site is a priority. Current employees may feel differently. These employees should weigh the cost of moving or commuting against the cost of finding new employment and make a decision.