Tesla CEO Elon Musk called remote work “morally wrong” in a wide-ranging interview with CNBC Tuesday.
The billionaire told the network’s David Faber that while remote work is a productivity issue, it’s also a moral one. He called the work-from-home model that many relied on during the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally unfair and out of touch.
“It’s like really? You’re gonna work from home and you’re gonna make everyone else who made your car come work in the factory? You’re gonna make people who make your food that gets delivered — they can’t work from home? The people that come fix your house? They can’t work from home, but you can?” said Mr. Musk, also CEO of SpaceX and Twitter.
He also expressed a personal dislike for those who choose to work from home.
“People should get off their goddamn moral high horse with this bulls—- because they’re asking everyone else to not work from home while they do. It’s wrong,” Mr. Musk said.
Mr. Musk is no stranger to attacking remote work. He has talked extensively about sleeping in the Tesla offices during intense work periods to inspire his employees. He also said he sometimes sleeps in Twitter’s offices.
After taking over Twitter in October, Mr. Musk eliminated the universal work-from-home policies of the previous leadership, forcing those employees left standing after layoffs to return to the office or resign. Tesla employees were given similar ultimatums once the worst of the pandemic subsided.
Executives across the business sphere have become increasingly irritated with the work-from-home model and have rolled back some remote work policies. Companies such as Amazon have asked their employees to work on a hybrid model, with some days in the office and some from home.
Most companies that have asked their employees to return have done so citing productivity issues.
According to a New York Times report, only 12% of U.S. workers are fully remote, with 28% splitting their work between the office and their homes.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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