Yahoo! CEO Offers Employees Free iPhone 5, Androids, WP8

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By Jane McEntegart
published

Company wants staff using the same devices as its users.

When Yahoo! CEO Marissa Meyer joined the company back in July, she knew she had a big job ahead of her. One of the changes she's implementing is a new program called 'Yahoo! Smart Phones, Smart Fun' and will see every single Yahoo! employee receive a brand new top-of-the-line smartphone for free. Business Insider says the news was confirmed via an internal memo and the program will cover both full time and part time employees. The idea behind this show of generosity is that Yahoo! wants staff using what Yahoo! users are using.

BI reports that employees will have a choice of five different top-end smartphones, including Apple's newly-announced but as yet unreleased iPhone 5. If you're working for Yahoo! and you're not an Apple fan, you can choose Samsung's Galaxy S III,  an HTC One X, an HTC EVO 4G LTE, or Nokia's Lumia 920.

As if a free phone weren't a big enough perk, Yahoo! will also be covering the data and phone bills for all employees. It's not all good news, though, as it seems this new push for smartphones in every pocket will leave RIM's BlackBerry out in the cold. Not only is the company left off the list of choices for the 'Smart Phones, Smart Fun' program, but BI says Yahoo! is stopping IT support for BlackBerrys, too. Yahoo! is already taking orders from employees but we imagine those looking for an iPhone 5 or a Lumia 920 will have to wait a bit longer than staff choosing already available phones.

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Jane McEntegart
23 Comments Comment from the forums
  • samkl
    Good call on offering all platforms and nice selection of phones for all tastes.
    -SK
    Reply
  • igot1forya
    I wish my boss would bribe me for loyalty!
    Reply
  • blurr91
    I'd take a raise over some cheap electronic gadgets.
    Reply
  • velocityg4
    Seems a bit surprising that they would approve Android given that Google is their chief rival. Although personally if I was an employee I'd rather get a bonus or extra vacation instead of some gadget and phone bill paid for. With my employer being able to track all my personal phone calls and usage. Actually unless it was just something were they compensate me on my bill I'd just shut off the phone and put it in some drawer then use my own phone and bill I pay for without employer oversight.

    Is this just a company phone like any number of companies require there employees to carry? If so how is this news? It seems to be pretty standard for many companies to provide company phones to employees with the bill paid for.
    Reply
  • inerax
    Yahoo! is trying to catch up to Google's employee satisfaction!
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    velocityg4Seems a bit surprising that they would approve Android given that Google is their chief rival. Although personally if I was an employee I'd rather get a bonus or extra vacation instead of some gadget and phone bill paid for. With my employer being able to track all my personal phone calls and usage. Actually unless it was just something were they compensate me on my bill I'd just shut off the phone and put it in some drawer then use my own phone and bill I pay for without employer oversight.Is this just a company phone like any number of companies require there employees to carry? If so how is this news? It seems to be pretty standard for many companies to provide company phones to employees with the bill paid for.
    Rival in what? Google powers the Yahoo search engine and has for quite a while now.
    Reply
  • boiler1990
    It's not all good news, though, as it seems this new push for smartphones in every pocket will leave RIM's BlackBerry out in the cold.
    Reply
  • teh_chem
    Neat.

    I've heard discussions/rumors that Yahoo is out-of-touch with the entire mobile platform. While they make mobile apps for various things, they're not very responsive to the mobile platform as a whole. I wonder if doing this--in addition to requesting your employees to be available all the time now that they have work phones--is a way to get the entire company more ingrained in mobile (and maybe hinting a change of business strategy?).

    Also, literally ALL yahoo employees? Or a certain level and above?
    Reply
  • svdb
    Somebody high up in my (very large) company suddenly decided our stuff had to run on tablets. So one morning my manager came to see me and asked, "um... you wouldn't happen to posses a tablet per chance?"
    Reply
  • samwelaye
    blazorthonRival in what? Google powers the Yahoo search engine and has for quite a while now.

    Umm Bing powers the Yahoo search engine and has for a while now...
    Reply