HP eyes end to telecommuting, needs 'all hands on deck'

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is starting to discourage its employees to work from home, according to a new report.

HP recently distributed a question-and-answer document urging employees to work from home, All Things Digital reported on Tuesday after seeing a copy of the memo. The directive has yet to be initiated company-wide, but it says that "during this critical turnaround period, HP needs all hands on deck."

"We recognize that in the past, we may have asked certain employees to work from home for various reasons," the company reportedly wrote. "We now need to build a stronger culture of engagement and collaboration and the more employees we get into the office the better company we will be."

HP's decision to discourage telecommuting follows a similar move earlier this year by Yahoo. The Web giant laid down a rule requiring its employees to be in the office, rather than work from home.

For HP, such a decision must not have been taken lightly. The company has approximately 80,000 employees and, according to All Things Digital's sources, one of the main reasons thousands of workers were staying at home was simple -- there weren't enough desks to accommodate them. That evidently is going to change.

CNET has contacted HP for comment. We will update this story when we have more information.