Tesla CEO Elon Musk condemned working from home as “morally wrong” last night, saying the practice is unfair to service employees who still have to show up.
Musk, the second richest person in the world, has often criticized working from home, which became a necessity for many during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
But for many companies, the practice has continued in the post-pandemic era.
The business tycoon, who also owns the social media platform Twitter, referred to workers in Silicon Valley’s tech industry as the “laptop class living in la-la land” in an interview with CNBC Tuesday evening.
He told the network’s David Faber that he believes being in the office boosts productivity, but also said his opposition to working from home was a “moral issue.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk last night (pictured) denounced working from home as “morally wrong,” saying the practice is unfair to service reps who still have to show up
In the extended interview, Musk said employees who have so far refused to return to offices after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted should “get off their moral high horse” and go back to work like others, pointing to service employees.
“The whole work from home thing, it’s kind of like, I think there are some exceptions, but I think the whole work from home idea is a little bit like, you know, Marie Antoinette’s fake quote, ‘Let them eat cake’, he said to Faber.
“It’s like, it’s real? You’re going to work from home and have everyone who made your car work at the factory? You’re going to make sure people who make your food that’s delivered – they can’t work from home? The people who come to fix your house? They can’t work from home, but can you?’
“Does that sound morally right?” he asked. “That’s confused.”
When asked by Faber if he thought it was a moral issue, Musk said yes.
“It’s a productivity issue, but also a moral issue,” he told the interviewer. “People should get off their goddamn moral high horse with this bulls-t because they ask everyone not to work from home when they do. It’s wrong.’
Executives in Silicon Valley — and others across the country — have been frustrated by employees resisting a return to the office, despite guidelines urging them to do so.
Companies such as Amazon and Salesforce have demanded workers return to the office after signs of a decline in productivity, CNBC reported.
Musk also spoke about his continued leadership on Twitter during the interview.
He scrapped Twitter’s own work-from-home policy when he took control of the company last November and put his employees back to work.
Musk, the second richest person in the world, has often criticized working from home, which became a necessity for many during the Covid-19 lockdowns. He scrapped Twitter’s own work-from-home policy when he took control of the company last November and put his employees back to work. Pictured: Workers are seen in Twitter’s offices in March 2022
He said a new Twitter executive will let him spend more time on Tesla, but will continue to tweet his unfiltered thoughts even if it hurts his companies.
“I don’t care,” the billionaire said when asked what he thought of his controversial tweets that may hurt Tesla stock or make it harder to sell ads on Twitter.
“I’ll say what I want to say and if it means I lose money, so be it.”
Named as Musk’s successor as CEO of Twitter, Linda Yaccarino is a respected media and advertising executive who is considered by some to be a visionary.
‘Twitter is primarily an advertising company; Linda is obviously incredible at that and she’s just a great manager overall,” Musk said.
“Linda will run a company and I will build products.”
Since taking over Twitter in late October, Musk has repeatedly sparked controversy, firing most of his employees, allowing banned accounts back on the platform, suspending journalists and charging for previously free services.
Those moves have spooked advertisers, many of whom left the platform over concerns that their products were being associated with disturbing content.
Musk has also paved the way for Donald Trump to return to Twitter, but the former US president has yet to use the platform and has opted to post on his own social media site instead.
If Trump were to return and post baseless claims about the 2020 election, a “community notes” feature could point Twitter users to the misinformation, Musk told CNBC, adding that he didn’t personally think the election was “stolen.” ‘ were, as Trump claims.
Despite Musk’s outspoken stance on free speech and his fierce criticism of moderating content around the 2020 election, Twitter recently admitted that it was succumbing to pressure from the Turkish government to remove content ahead of the election from last weekend.
“We received what we believe was a final threat to slow down the service — following several such warnings,” the company said Monday, amid outrage over the apparent hypocrisy.
“And so to keep Twitter available through election weekend, we took action against four accounts and 409 tweets identified by a court order.”
In the extended interview, Musk said employees who have so far refused to return to offices after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted should “get off their moral high horse” and go back to work like others, pointing to service employees. Pictured: Twitter offices in April 2022
Musk told CNBC he will focus primarily on artificial intelligence at Tesla, which is already using such technology for self-driving capabilities.
“I think Tesla will have a ChatGPT moment; I’d say next year at the latest,” Musk said of Tesla AI used for autonomous driving.
ChatGPT bots from startup OpenAI, which Musk helped create, capture the imagination and stir fear regarding powerful artificial intelligence.
“I am the reason OpenAI exists,” Musk claimed, noting that he had invested some $50 million in the startup from the start. “I came up with the name.”