Dell has told its home-based workers they can stay where they are but they are not going to get any promotions unless they are in the office to listen to boring PowerPoint meetings.

A Dell old-timer who's been clocking in from the couch for years spilled the beans to Business Insider saying about 10 to 15 percent of his team were homebodies. That's all up in the air now with Dell's new "get back to the grindstone" rule. From May, it's either schlep to the office or kiss goodbye to climbing the corporate ladder.

The Dell brass reckons this tough love is just the ticket for sparking some genius and standing out from the crowd. But Cary Cooper, a top psychologist, reckons it's all a bit sheepish, following the herd or maybe just jittery about the dodgy economy.

He said that there was zilch proof that office sloggers are any sharper than the sofa squad.

It's a far cry from what the big cheese Michael Dell used to say. He once quipped that if you are counting on “forced hours spent in a traditional office to create collaboration and provide a feeling of belonging within your organisation, you're doing it wrong."