Elon Musk defends ‘return to office’ mandate for Tesla executives: ‘Everyone is a worker’

Elon Musk is the founder and chief executive of Tesla (Illustration: News18)

Elon Musk on Thursday addressed the backlash that his ‘return to office’ ultimatum has generated.

When Scott Farquhar, CEO of Atlassian, tweeted that Musk’s 40-hours-in-office mandate sounded like something out of the 1950s, another Twitter user defended Musk’s ultimatum, pointing out that remote work is not possible on the Tesla factory floor. Tesla’s work culture does not differentiate between blue and white collar jobs, the Twitter user wrote.

There should not be a workers vs management class system, Elon Musk agreed as he responded to the tweet. “Everyone eats same food, uses same restrooms, etc – no executive chef or other ivory tower stuff,” the Tesla chief executive said of his company’s workplace culture.

“There shouldn’t be this workers vs management two-class system. Everyone is a worker,” he added.

Everyone eats same food, uses same restrooms, etc – no executive chef or other ivory tower stuff.

There shouldn’t be this workers vs management two-class system. Everyone is a worker.

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— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2022

“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,” Musk wrote in his first email.

In a follow-up message, the billionaire urged senior Tesla employees to set a good example by being a visible presence in office.

“Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week,” Musk reiterated in his second email, screenshots of which have gone viral online.

He sent a follow-up to everyone confirming the company-wide policy. pic.twitter.com/aYLnV5WhTe

— Sam Nissim (@SamNissim) June 1, 2022

“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,” he added.

He ended his communication with a dig at other companies that allow remote work. “There are of course companies that don’t require this, but when was the last time they shipped a great new product? It’s been a while,” wrote Musk.