Elon Musk has ordered that all Tesla employees stop working remotely and return to the office for 40+ hours per week, or they will be fired.
Since the COVID-19 epidemic hit in 2020, Tesla, like every other corporation, has permitted remote work for every function where it is possible.
As the pandemic fades, many companies are reconsidering their remote working practices. Many of them have concluded that workers are just as productive, if not more productive, when working remotely and have decided to enable staff to continue working remotely. Others have offered incentives to employees to return to the office.
Now it’s Tesla’s turn, and the business clearly fits into the latter group, albeit “incentives” may not be the correct word in this situation.
“Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers.” read part of an email sent to employees by Elon Musk.
Musk explained his decision to employees in a follow-up email, stating he wanted senior leadership to set an example by being “more visible.”
“The more senior you are, the more visible must be your presence. That is why I lived in the factory so much – so that those on the line could see me working alongside them. If I had not done that, Tesla would long ago have gone bankrupt. Elon said.
Continuing along this line of thought, Musk declared that organizations that do not have rigorous return-to-office regulations are failures. “Of course, there are companies that do not require this, but when was the last time they shipped a great new product? It’s been a while.”
Musk however says he will review any exceptions directly for any “particularly exceptional contributors for whom this is impossible.”
Elon Musk reportedly urged Tesla executives to ‘stop all hiring worldwide’ and eliminate approximately 10% of the workforce owing to a “poor feeling about the economy.”