Elon Musk’s New Tesla Take‑Back‑the‑Office Order
In a no‑fuss email that landed straight in the inbox on the night of June 2, Elon Musk told Tesla employees that “everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week.” If you don’t show up, the message grimly notes, “we will assume you have resigned.”
Why Musk Wants the Whole Team in the Office.
- Senior staff must be “more visible.” Musk reminded everyone that when he ran around the factory floor, the line workers could see him hard at work. “If I hadn’t done that, Tesla would’ve been bankrupt long ago,” he wrote.
- “When was the last time a firm that doesn’t require a return to the office shipped a great new product? … Tesla will create and actually manufacture the most exciting and meaningful products on Earth. This won’t happen by phone‑in.”
Musk’s Recent Papyrus Excerpts
A Twitter follower posted a supplementary email that reportedly demanded executives to hit 40 hours or “depart Tesla.” In response, Musk sarcastically replied, “They should pretend to work somewhere else.”
Workers Are Voicing Concern
On Blind (the anonymous workplace chatter app), several employees lamented the potential mass exodus. “If there’s a mass exodus, how would Tesla finish projects? I don’t think investors would be happy about that,” wrote one voice. Another sighed, “Waiting for him to backpedal real quick.”
Health Advocacy Groups Call Out Mandatory In‑Office Policy
Steve Knight, executive director of Worksafe, warned that mandating a return for all employees is a recipe for COVID outbreaks, citing Tesla’s earlier “disregard for worker safety.” He pointed to the May 2020 reopening of a Fremont plant that ran counter to Alameda County lockdown orders, which, according to county data, resulted in 440 COVID cases from May through December.
Past COVID Stances by Musk
We’ve got a playlist of Musk’s COVID remarks: “Coronavirus panic is dumb,” he once mused; children “essentially immune”; later, he himself broke Covid‑19 twice.
Comparing Phoenix with the Prius
While Alphabet’s Google has boxed in employees to three office days a week (with many still fully remote), Twitter’s Parag Agrawal kept the doors open for a flexible hybrid approach. Tesla, by contrast, is going full‑stack on the in‑office mandate.
Final Thought
Elon Musk’s latest memo is a bold, if blustery, move: put the hands on the keyboard at a desk, not the palm on a laptop screen. It’ll be interesting to see if this cult of office devotion will keep Tesla pumping out gadgets or simply crush its workforce.
