Tesla CEO Elon Musk declares war on ‘work from home’

The world’s richest man is not a fan of work from home and now he’s given his executive staff an ultimatum: Return to the office or find another job. Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly sent the demand in a leaked email to his executive staff Tuesday.

The email, which has circulated online, reads, “Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours a week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers.”

In the email, Musk noted that some rare exceptions may apply on a case by case basis.

The CEO appeared to validate the email on Twitter, replying to a question on the email about people who think coming into the office is an antiquated concept.

“They should pretend to work somewhere else,” he tweeted.

They should pretend to work somewhere else

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2022

Musk’s stance is not quite a surprise. Last week, he said, “All the Covid stay-at-home stuff has tricked people into thinking that you don’t actually need to work hard. Rude awakening inbound!”

Tesla has a reputation of being a tough place to work and has been the target of multiple workplace harassment lawsuits, including one where a judge ordered the company to pay $137 million in damages.

But as other CEOs tiptoe around the return-to-office debate, Musk is diving in head first. And with Twitter operating under a “work from home forever” policy, one has to wonder what will happen there if Musk’s acquisition goes through.