Watch out for “his stick hits his back”

Like every other company, Tesla has enabled remote work for every possible role since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. As the pandemic subsided, those companies reassessed their capabilities. their remote working policy. Many of them have come to the conclusion that employees are unlikely to be more productive when working remotely and have decided to encourage employees to return to the office. Now it’s Tesla’s turn, and the company is definitely following in the footsteps of this trend although perhaps “incentive” isn’t the right word in this case.

Specifically, billionaire Elon Musk said in two separate emails that people must be present at least 40 hours a week at Tesla’s main office. “If you don’t show up, we’ll assume you’ve resigned,” he said in one of the emails first reported by electrek and also obtained by CNBC.

“Anyone who wants to work remotely has to be in the office at least (and I mean *minimum*) 40 hours a week or leave Tesla,” Musk said in the first email, according to Electrek. ″This is less than we ask for those of factory workers.

“Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of forty hours in the office each week. Furthermore, the office should be where your real colleagues are, not some remote mock office. If you don’t show up, we’ll consider your resignation.”

“If there are contributors, special positions subject to this that are not possible, I will personally review and approve those exceptions,” the email continued.

Musk wrote in the second email sent, adding that it was important for senior employees to show their presence and said that was why he “lived in the factory so much” and by otherwise “Tesla went bankrupt a long time ago”.

“The higher up you are, the more visible your presence should be. That’s why I live at the factory a lot – so everyone on the production line can see me working with me. If I hadn’t done that, Tesla would have gone bankrupt a long time ago.”

“Tesla has and will create and actually produces the most interesting and meaningful products of any company on Earth. This is not going to happen by calling each other indirectly to make things happen. that result,” he added.

The outspoken Tesla CEO is known for his job expectations, especially for factory workers, that push them to achieve extremely ambitious production goals.

For example, as the number of Covid-19 cases increased in California in April 2020, Musk called the health closure restrictions “fascist” in a corporate earnings call. He also kept his company’s Fremont, California factory running despite the health order, but faced no consequences from the state or Alameda County.

Currently, other Big Tech companies have not yet forced all employees back to the office. In an effort to retain talent during what’s been called the “Great Resignation,” employers like Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, and Meta allow at least some jobs to be done remotely, depending on what they do. job type and location of the employee.

In contrast, some of the big tech employers including Atlassian and Airbnb now allow year-round remote work. Brian Chesky, CEO and co-founder of accommodation-sharing platform Airbnb revealed the move on Twitter. “You have the flexibility to live and work remotely in 170 countries for up to 90 days a year in each location without specifying which country they’ll be working in or the reason for the 90-day limit,” he said. “.

However, in a separate email to employees, Chesky said employees will still need a permanent address to notify the company for tax and payroll purposes.

“Most companies don’t do this because of the mountains of tax, payroll and time zone complexities available, but I hope we can provide an open source solution so other companies can too.” provides this flexibility,” he said in email. Airbnb employees will be personally responsible for receiving “appropriate work authorization”. “Today, more than 20 countries offer remote work visas, and many more are underway,” he said.

It’s possible the move is designed to inspire other companies to introduce similar teleworking policies that have the potential to offer certain benefits as Airbnb has.

The decision comes as other companies begin trying to lure employees back to the office, sometimes with perks like social events and free food. However, not everyone is convinced and some employees are said to have quit their jobs to join companies with more flexible telecommuting policies.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the matter.