Facility Closures & Downsizings: Telecommuting Turnabout at Yahoo!

Yahoo’s new CEO Marissa Mayer -- determined to shake things up in an effort to turn the struggling company’s fortunes around - decided to end the company’s telecommuting program.

“To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices. Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings. Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home. We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together,” a Yahoo memo issued this past week reads.

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According to John A. Challenger, CEO of global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, there is some wisdom behind the memo’s sentiment.

“Yahoo is definitely in a fourth-and-long situation, so it needs to try new tactics. There is a collaborative advantage to having all of your employees in the office,” Challenger said. “However, there is also an advantage in having the best and brightest tech workers on your payroll. The question is whether this move will result in an exodus among the company’s top talent.”

The memo touched off a broad debate in the news and social media this week on telecommuting, to which Yahoo issued a public statement clarifying its stance.

“This isn’t a broad industry view on working from home -- this is about what is right for Yahoo!, right now," said a Yahoo spokesperson in an emailed statement to HuffingtonPost.com.

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Tenant Satisfaction Reaches New High as 2013 Begins

Nearly nine out of 10 office tenants in the United States were satisfied with their space in 2012, according to Kingsley Associates’ Q4 2012 Office Industry Trends. Almost 88% of tenants rated their overall satisfaction as “good” or “excellent,” up from 85.1% in 2011. This represents the highest level of satisfaction ever recorded by Kingsley Associates.

Tenant satisfaction was higher in 2012 than in 2011 in almost every major office market in the United States. Only in Atlanta did the proportion of satisfied tenants decline during 2012-from 90.1% to 87.9%, a figure that still betters the national average.

“This unprecedented rise in satisfaction tracks well with what we hear from owners and investors,” said Jim Woidat, principal of Kingsley Associates. “Throughout the recovery, building owners and managers have turned their focus from asset appreciation back toward operations. This has led naturally to better customer service delivery aimed at tenant retention.”

This importance of retention has become especially pronounced because of the sluggish pace of employment growth.

Other information from office tenants in 2012 suggests that employment is picking up in some markets. More than 40% of tenant companies in both Atlanta and Denver reported increased headcount for the year, with Chicago, Miami and Washington, DC, close behind.

Alternative work arrangements are also particularly apparent in certain parts of the country. Employees of tenants in Atlanta, Boston and San Francisco are more likely to work from home on occasion, while those in New York have a higher propensity to share workspace.

Kingsley Associates surveys office tenants representing over 1 billion square feet annually on behalf of its clients. The findings outlined above are based on responses received between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012. For additional data and analysis, see Kingsley Associates’ Q4 2012 Office Trends.

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Facility Closures & Downsizings

Intersil Corp. announced restructuring initiatives to be completed during the first quarter of 2013 and are expected to reduce annual operating expenses by $30 million. The refocusing effort will reduce the Milpitas, CA-based company’s global work force by approximately 18% (about 270 people). Costs savings are expected to be achieved through reductions in work force and increased focus on new product development efforts.

At investor presentations this week, JPMorgan said it would be looking to cut $1 billion from expenses this year. The reductions would involve the layoff of 4,000 positions, many eliminated through attrition.

.	Company	Address	City	State	Closure or Layoff	No. of Layoffs	Impact Date
.	Phoenix Children's Hospital	1919 E. Thomas Road	Phoenix	AZ	Unknown	150	3/29/2013
.	The Cheesecake Factory (Grand Lux Cafe LLC)	7014 E. Camelback Road, Suite 102	Scottsdale	AZ	Unknown	89	3/17/2013
.	Conifer Health Solutions	1735 Founders Pkwy, Suite 200	Alpharetta	GA	Closure	87	3/24/2013
.	Mercury Insurance Group	375 Northridge Road	Atlanta	GA	Closure	42	4/21/2013
.	Proctor & Gamble	3464 Mike Padgett Hwy	Augusta	GA	Layoff	130	3/11/2013
.	Bway Corp.	2160 Lithonia Industrial Blvd.	Lithonia	GA	Closure	65	3/7/2013
.	National Beef	189 W Bypass	Moultrie	GA	Layoff	280	4/13/2013
.	Continental Commercial Products	809 E Broad St.	Wrens	GA	Closure	121	3/24/2013
.	Owens-Illinois Inc.	Route 219 North, Plant #76	Brockway	PA	Layoff	77	4/30/2013
.	PowerLink Settlement Services, L.P.	345 Rouser Road	Coraopolis	PA	Closure	125	4/8/2013
.	Teleperformance	111 Roberts Road	Grindstone	PA	Layoff	261	4/2/2013
.	Johnstown Specialty Casting, Inc.	545 Central Ave.	Johnstown	PA	Layoff	36	3/4/2013
.	Lincoln University	1570 Baltimore Pike	Lincoln University	PA	Layoff	71	4/8/2013
.	Vincentian Regency	9399 Babcock Blvd.	McCandless Township	PA	Closure	100	3/21/2013
.	Edmund Optics Inc.	601 Montgomery Ave.	Pennsburg	PA	Closure	38	3/31/2013
.	Secured Lending Services	290 Bilmar Drive	Pittsburgh	PA	Layoff	82	4/2/2013
.	HarperCollins Publishers LLC	1000 Keystone Industrial Park	Throop	PA	Layoff	217	4/1/2013
.	K-mart Store # 3051	1133 York Road	Warminster	PA	Closure	85	3/10/2013
.	Exco Resources LLC	3000 Ericsson Drive, Suite 200	Warrendale	PA	Layoff	70	4/5/2013
.	Zimmer Spine	5301 Riata Vista Circle	Austin	TX	Closure	87	3/15/2013
.	JP Morgan Chase-Mortgage Bank	1111 North Point Drive	Coppell	TX	Closure	121	3/10/2013
.	Saks Fifth Avenue	13550 Dallas Pkwy	Dallas	TX	Closure	123	6/15/2013
.	Vertis Communications-Dallas	8000 Ambassador Drive	Dallas	TX	Closure	27	4/1/2013
.	Royal Appliance Mfg. Co.	7850 Hoover Drive	El Paso	TX	Layoff	151	3/31/2013
.	Gulf Coast Window Covering	7110 Bellerive Drive	Houston	TX	Closure	135	3/11/2013
.	Macy's	1110 Main St.	Houston	TX	Closure	105	3/5/2013
.	ArjoHuntleigh	4958 Stout Drive	San Antonio	TX	Closure	95	3/8/2013
.	Flextronics Americas	10900 Cash Road	Stafford	TX	Layoff	147	4/1/2013

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