Twitter and Tesla – or more specifically, Elon Musk – have been among the most vocal companies concerning a return to the office now that workers can once again engage ‘normally’ following the pandemic. Musk has spoken out (unfavorably) again about WFH, but not for the reason you may think.
While many companies are battling with making the right decision, and workers are becoming increasingly disgruntled about mixed messages and high expectations, Musk has long been clear about his expectation that workers should be primarily based from their formal workplace.
In an interview with CNBC (opens in new tab), Tesla CEO Musk described tech workers as “laptop classes living in la-la-land,” implying that working from anywhere is merely a fantasy.
Musk on working from home
Rather than citing productivity and engagement (which he, and many other companies, have done), this time Musk calls out the “laptop classes” for being insensitive to other workers.
He told CNBC that they should get off their “moral high horse” and return to work just like other service workers have had to do in the months and years following the pandemic, stating that it’s “morally wrong.”
Having reduced Twitter’s workforce dramatically, the majority of Musk’s workers across all companies are now required to work in the office, at least for most of the working week.
Other company CEOs have spoken out about WFH in a similarly unfavorable manner, but the most typical reason often boils down to poor productivity at home, which is accentuated by the lack of ad-hoc interaction that takes place online.
The news comes just weeks ahead of Musk stepping down as controversial CEO for the social networking platform, having announced a successor in Linda Yaccarino.
Via CNBC (opens in new tab)