Self motivated, creative remote workers   can be a real source of innovation and production if the working conditions are structured correctly. In today's day of computer conferences, group emails, etc. there is no reason for workers to be isolated and out of touch except by a company's culture of neglect of these individuals. In my opinion, remote workers can be an asset to a corporation but they do need to remain informed of the corporation's direction and connected to the corporate culture. This can be accomplished via scheduled in person meetings, retreats and other as needed person to person contact. In addition, group communication is essential. Unmotivated, unproductive employees do need to be eliminated; however, the failure of remote workers at Yahoo may be due to a lack of corporate structure in effectively supporting and efficiently utilizing these remote individuals.