As reported by Bloomberg, Elon Musk sent an internal memo to his workforce on Tuesday with this fireball of a quote:
“Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week,” Musk wrote in an email titled “To be super clear.” “Moreover, the office must be where your actual colleagues are located, not some remote pseudo-office. If you don’t show up, we will assume you have resigned.”
And, oh, it gets better:
In recent weeks, Musk has praised Tesla China employees for “burning the 3am oil” while saying that Americans are “trying to avoid going to work at all.”
What a way to instill confidence in your staff, Elon. Musk has been both lauded and criticized for his business approaches over the years, and, in recent months, has been on a tear in his quest to acquire social media giant Twitter. As the CEO of Tesla (and founder/CEO of SpaceX), he has transcended the limits of what it is be a well-known (and incredibly wealthy) technology executive; Musk is more celebrity than hardline CEO at this point.
Upcoming FOWX Live keynote speaker John Healy sparked an interesting discussion on LinkedIn this week about the fallout and ramifications of Musk’s mandate. The phrase “challenger brand” was brought up in the comments, and this is surely one of the many reasons why he is going large with his proclamations: it’s in his nature to be like this, and, it’s something he intends on sticking to no matter the criticism he receives from the business world. Musk has made it part of his public persona to challenge things in a rough-edged manner.
Here’s the thing, though: we’re not talking about Musk’s unprofessional criticisms of stay-at-home orders or his public ventures for control of Twitter. Musk is actively shaking up the Future of Work movement is a very negative manner for the sake of valorization of burnout and rigidity. Simply lauding the poor working conditions of Tesla’s overseas factory staff is bad enough (there are numerous reports of illnesses, injuries, and less-than-ideal conditions at these facilities over the past few years); to say that Americans, who have embraced flexible working models in the wake of a global health crisis and consequently reaped the many rewards of doing so, are “trying to avoid work” is even worse (and incredibly, incredibly untrue).
White-collar workers, who are typically enabled with the ability to work from home or inject hybrid days into their work-week, have been revolting against return-to-office plans that wreak of the pre-pandemic world. The Future of Work Exchange, since its launched last year, has been a progressive proponent of flexibility in the workplace, evangelizing the benefits of hybrid workplaces during an era in which a “Talent Revolution” is occurring because workers crave that flexibility.
The other aspect here that needs to be discussed is the calculated risk Musk is taking in proclaiming that remote work isn’t viable. Tesla is sure to lose staff in the wake of his new mandate, and, more critically, it will lose its status as a hotbed of talent in the eyes of candidates now and in the future. Working at Tesla surely has some panache, however, if the environment and culture reflect Musk’s ignorant vision, workers are risking burnout and an extreme lack of flexibility.
The Future of Work revolves around the notions of worker empowerment, flexibility, empathy, and a better alignment between workplace and worker. Elon Musk and Tesla’s approach to remote work is a backwards move that erases the progress the business world has made over the past two years.
