Mayor Bloomberg, a billionaire former CEO, said on his weekly radio show Friday that he agrees with Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer that working from home is not productive.
"I've always said, telecommuting is one of the dumber ideas I've ever heard," said the media mogul mayor.
"Yes, there are some things you can do at home," he went on. "But having a chat line is not the same thing as standing at the water cooler. And standing at the water cooler is where you get a lot of ideas and information and it's a euphemism for a lot of interpersonal dialogue."
Mayer recently announced that employees at Yahoo will no longer be able to work from home, citing the need for more communication and collaboration within the company's office.
Bloomberg stepped down from his media company, Bloomberg LP, to run for mayor in 2001.
As a billionaire with multiple homes outside New York City, he has defended his right to work remotely, without disclosing his whereabouts. He says he can work and stay in touch through his various devices.
After he was criticized for not being in town when a major blizzard paralyzed the city on Christmas weekend in 2010, he said:
"To the best of my recollection in nine years there hasn't been a time when you couldn't communicate, get me on the phone, whether I'm traveling or uptown or downtown."
