The richest man in the world sent the message by e-mail. (Photo: AP)
If there is one thing that characterizes Elon Musk, it is his lack of tact in communicating his directives. Especially when it comes to junior staff. Tired of the pandemic excuse, the millionaire has determined that Tesla’s executive staff have two paths: back to the office as colleagues on the assembly line or starts emptying the drawers.
Through a leaked email from Elon Musk, dated this Tuesday, titled “Remote working is no longer acceptable,” the carmaker’s chief executive noted that, only in extreme cases where this was considered impossible. he will personally decide whether to reconsider his decree.
“Anyone who wants to work remotely must at least be in the office (and I mean * minimum *) 40 hours per week or leave Tesla, “he wrote in an email shared by Tesla shareholder Sam Nissim on Twitter.
In response to a screenshot of the alleged email posted on Twitter, Musk did not deny its authenticity, writing that anyone who disagrees with the policy of going to the office “should pretend to work somewhere else”.
The e-mail also does not impose a deadline by which the instructions must be applied to the staff, so it is conceivable that the orders will take effect immediately.
Many advocates of working from home (WFH) argue that it can improve the quality of life. However, there are also those who believe it it can promote social inequalitywarning that it creates a two-class workforce where yuppies enjoy all the benefits of flexibility, while blue-collar workers don’t.
In a possible reference to Chinese staff building cars for 12-hour shifts while sleeping in the factory, he added: “This is less than what we are asking the workers.”
Musk added that it wasn’t enough to join any Tesla site, it had to be one in line with the assigned tasks. “It has to be a Tesla main office, not a remote branch outside the job functions, for example, be responsible for human relations for the Fremont factory, but have your own office in another state.”
A hint of what Musk thinks about WFH came last month when he reacted to news that Apple delayed its return-to-work plan by tweeting a meme suggesting that the employees working from home were, in fact, dogs.
Some have argued that Tesla may end up sacrificing too many brains among its 110,000 employees, as people would quit rather than carry out their orders. Others saw little risk, citing the company’s claim in its 2021 impact report that last year it had more than 3 million job applicants worldwide.
Teleworking in the giants of Silicon Valley
Tech companies like Tesla, which rely heavily on software programmers and artificial intelligence developers working behind a computer, are exploring whether it makes sense to ask employees to return to the office.
Alphabet’s Google search engine business adopted a hybrid model and employees were asked to come three days a week. However, it does not offer this benefit, it is not passed on to the workers of its member companies, as is the case with Google Maps, Cognizant.
By comparison, Salesforce, which pioneered the use of enterprise software that works remotely through the cloud, sees flexibility as a recruiting tool. You don’t care where your best talents work as long as they’re in the same time zone.
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Source: Clarin
