Ok the first thing that springs to mind is “what a douche” 😊 the second thing that comes to mind is “he is so gonna get sued” but then when I removed my dislike for him in general and put the old Human Resource Manager cap on (I don’t let her out very often) the Recruiter cap is much more fun loving, I really thought about the industry he works in, the product, demand, is he being unreasonable when you consider all the other factors? The world’s richest man has had it with this whole working-from-home business.
Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk sent an email to “Everybody” at his electric-car company, elaborating on an earlier missive to executive staff about the need to be in the office. Employees at numerous companies, used to working from home or hybrid policies, have revolted against “RTO” policies and long commutes.
“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.” Bloomberg News confirmed that current Tesla employees received the email on Wednesday morning (US time).
“The more senior you are, the more visible must be your presence,” Musk wrote. “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.”
Earlier, Musk sent an email to executive staff requiring that they be in “a main Tesla office, not a remote branch office unrelated to the job duties, for example being responsible for Fremont factory human relations, but having your office be in another state.” In recent weeks, Musk has praised Tesla China employees in Shanghai for “burning the 3am oil” while saying that Americans are “trying to avoid going to work at all.”
Thousands of Tesla staff there have been effectively locked in for months, working 12-hour shifts, six days a week. Until recently, many were sleeping on the factory floor as part of a closed-loop system meant to keep COVID out and cars rolling off the production line. Workers brought in to bring the factory back up to speed are being shuttled between the facility and sleeping quarters — either unused factories or an old military camp — with day- and night-shift workers sharing beds in makeshift dorms.
When a fan on Twitter asked Musk to address people who think going into work is an antiquated concept, he replied “They should pretend to work somewhere else.” It’s not the first time Musk’s tough-love treatment of employees has come up.
Roughly two weeks before Musk reached a $US44 billion deal to acquire Twitter, Keith Rabois, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and entrepreneur, tweeted an anecdote that speaks to his friend’s management style. At SpaceX, Musk once noticed a group of interns milling around while waiting in a line for coffee. Musk threatened to fire them all if it happened again, and had security cameras installed to monitor compliance, according to Rabois, who knows Tesla’s founder from their days at PayPal. Employees at Twitter — one of the most prominent companies to allow permanent remote work are “in for a rude awakening,” Rabois wrote in April.
I guess you could say that Elon is a little militant in his approach (to say the least) but I think it is very topical right now with employee expectations and whether what they want matches the company needs and expectations. Remember those employers that could offer WFH did it because of the direct result of the pandemic with your protection, health, wellbeing, efficiency in mind. I think it is unfair of an employee to demand that “emergency response” to a worldwide pandemic be the norm going forward when we’re being told the worst is over. Previous newsletters I have posted have detailed how you might start the conversation with your employer when discussing the return to the office pros and cons. I think if you meet them in the middle somewhere is good with a Hybrid model, the HR Mgr in me would say that unless you have a working remotely clause in your contract your return to the office will be required of you at some point. The recruiter in me would suggest the market right now does allow you to negotiate that though, with the candidate shortage and again those that are looking have the expectation that WFH will be an option regardless of what is advertised. I would advise you to tread softly not all employers can office this work style as much as they might want to so you might just be doing yourself out of the perfect role.