"Remote Work is No Longer Acceptable", says Tesla CEO - Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken a hardline stance against his employees working from home, report Electrek and Bloomberg. In an email sent to the company's executive staff with the subject line "Remote work is no longer acceptable," the CEO said employees must spend a minimum of 40 hours per week in the office or else "depart Tesla." He said this should be a "main Tesla office," and not a "remote branch office."

In response to a screenshot of the alleged email posted on Twitter, Musk did not deny its authenticity of it, writing that anyone who disagrees with the go-to-office policy "should pretend they work somewhere else." Tesla did not respond to The Verge's request for comment but is widely reported to have dissolved its press office.

In the email, the CEO added that he would be willing to consider requests to work remotely in some circumstances but indicated that such requests would have to be "exceptional" to be approved. "If there are particularly exceptional contributors for whom this is impossible, I will review and approve those exceptions directly," he wrote. Working 40 hours in person, he said, is "less than we ask of factory workers."

In a follow-up email seen by Electrek, the CEO claimed that his own story of almost living in the Tesla factory was the reason behind the company's survival. "The more senior you are, the more visible must be your presence," he wrote. "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."

After the global pandemic forced many companies to introduce remote work policies rapidly, many are now evaluating how they should bring their employees back to the office or if it is necessary in the first place. Some, like Apple, are trying a hybrid approach that involves employees going to the office for only part of the week.

Tesla's hardline stance makes him a relative outlier in the so-called "new normal." "If you don't show up, we will assume you have resigned," Musk wrote. He can read the two emails from him in full-on Electrek.