“I work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 52 weeks a year. And people still say I’m lucky ”.
– Elon Musk, June 11, 2020
The “hard work” for Elon Musk, matters more than talent. The richest man in the world has made it clear on more than one occasion in the past. Telling how he paid dearly in his life for the rare occasions when he took a vacation. And harshly scolding Tesla employees who complained about too much work: “I could sit and drink Mai Tai with naked models-he would have said-but instead I’m here with you.”
In short, it is not surprising Elon Musk’s email leaked on social mediaaddressed precisely to Tesla employees who work in smart working. “Remote work is no longer accepted” reads the subject of the email sent personally by the company’s CEO.
The email was sent yesterday, May 31, at a time when Covid cases in the US are on the rise again. “All those who intend to work remotely – writes Musk – must be in the office for a minimum (and I stress * a minimum *) of 40 hours a weekor they have to leave Tesla ”.
“If there are extraordinary collaborators for whom this will not be possible, I will judge and approve every single case directly”, added the entrepreneur.
Elon Musk’s email was published by some users on Twitter, including the Whole Mars Catalog profile which has 100,000 followers and often deals with issues related to Musk and his companies: Tesla and SpaceX. Precisely this account asked Musk directly a comment on the affair: “Hey Elon, many people are talking about this mail. Do you want to say more to people who believe that working in the office is an outdated concept? ”.
“These people should pretend they work elsewhere,” Elon Musk responded harshly. That’s like this indirectly confirmed the authenticity of the email. On other occasions, in fact, the entrepreneur has personally denied it on Twitter the news that he deemed false about him.
With his email and his opinion on employees who “pretend to work” remotely, Elon Musk has generated several controversies. In the panorama of the tech industry, his position is nothing short of isolated.
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX spoke on a platform, Twitter, that authorized its employees to work “forever from home or from any other place where they feel more productive and creative ”. A choice shared, in recent times, by companies such as Meta, Spotify and Dropbox. Even Apple, which does not share the idea of permanent smart working, and which in any case has in mind a hybrid return plan in its offices (at least three days a week, initially), has again postponed work in presence due to soaring of the Covid case curve in America.
It is true that Tesla, compared to the companies mentioned, predicts an important manual work, and therefore in the presence, to produce its electric sports cars. But it is also true that many, in the company led by Musk, deal with the software that allows assisted driving and that one day – perhaps – will allow totally autonomous driving. In short, at least the engineers could be granted more freedom. But no, all on site.
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The factory, for Musk, plays a central role in the development and prosperity of his companies. The entrepreneur does not allow setbacks, not even those imposed by the US government. It should be remembered that the pandemic pushed Musk’s business to Texasmore permissive than the state of California which had ordered Tesla to close its factory during the first lockdown of 2020. With two tweets Musk at the time had liquidated the Californian authorities: “This is the straw that breaks the camel’s back – he wrote – Tesla will move its headquarters and future operations to Texas and Nevada. ”And in fact, last April, Musk inaugurated Tesla’s new Gigafactory right in Texas, near Austin.
Finally, it is striking that Musk has expressed himself so harshly with employees that in the last two years – those of the pandemic and smart working, in fact – they have allowed Tesla to reach the impressive market value of 1000 billion dollars, first home automotive in the world to cross this milestone.