New York (CNN Business) — Elon Musk is requiring Tesla workers to return to work in person at offices or resign from the company.
The policy, revealed in leaked emails Musk sent to Tesla executive staff on Tuesday, was first reported by the electric vehicle news site. Electrek.
“Anyone who wants to work remotely needs to be in the office a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours a week or leave Tesla. This is less than what we ask factory workers to do,” Musk wrote. . He also added that the office should be the employee’s primary workplace, where they meet colleagues with whom they interact regularly: “not a remote branch office unrelated to their job duties.”
Musk said he would personally review any request for a waiver of the policy. But that, generally speaking, “if you don’t show up, we’ll assume you quit.”
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment on the policy change. However, Musk seemed to confirm it in a Tweet earlier this Wednesday when asked on Twitter: “Hey Elon… any additional comments for people who think coming to work is an outdated concept?” The billionaire responded: “They should pretend they work somewhere else.”
This policy contrasts sharply with that of another tech company that Musk try to buy: Twitter. The platform previously announced that employees can continue to work from home “forever” if they prefer. “Wherever you feel most productive and creative is where you will work. And that includes working from home full time forever,” wrote CEO Parag Agrawal in a note to Twitter’s nearly 100,000 employees in March. Just before Musk’s interest in acquiring the social network was revealed.
At Tesla, however, this will not be the case. It’s especially important for senior managers to be seen in the office, Musk said. And he added that was one of the reasons he essentially lived in the Tesla factory in Fremont, California, when the company was struggling to ramp up production in 2017 and 2018.
“If he hadn’t done that, Tesla would have gone bankrupt a long time ago,” he said. “Of course, there are companies that don’t need this. But when was the last time they shipped a great new product? A long time ago.”
He added: “Tesla has created and, in fact, will create and manufacture truly the most exciting and significant products of any company on Earth,” he added. “This won’t happen if it’s done over the phone.”
Surveys show that most office workers prefer the option of working from home.
Since offices reopened after the Covid-19 lockdowns, many companies, as well as Twitter, have announced greater flexibility for employees who want to work remotely. Partly as a way to retain or attract talent in a particularly competitive job market. But the richest person in the world doesn’t seem to care about that dynamic.