'Working from home bulls***': Elon Musk says people are more productive in-person

Entrepreneur Elon Musk recently expressed his strong opposition to remote work during an interview. In a candid conversation with CNBC's David Faber, Musk went so far as to label remote work as "morally wrong" and "bulls***," asserting that it puts some workers at an unfair disadvantage.

While Musk's stance on remote work is not new, his fervour and conviction in this interview were particularly pronounced. He argued passionately that in-person work fosters greater productivity and collaboration among employees, highlighting his belief that people achieve more when physically present in the workplace.

In June 2022, Musk implemented a stringent policy requiring Tesla employees to return to the office or risk losing their jobs. Under this directive, employees were expected to devote a minimum of 40 hours per week to working on-site, with anything less deemed insufficient commitment.

Many Tesla employees told CNBC, the company had been more receptive to remote work arrangements before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Musk's perspective shifted in response to the pandemic, leading him to adopt a firm stance against remote work and other preventive measures, such as mask-wearing. Additionally, due to spatial and logistical constraints in Tesla's San Francisco offices, the company faced challenges in accommodating a large number of employees returning to work.

Musk's strict return-to-work policy extended to Twitter after his acquisition of the company, coinciding with a significant downsizing of the workforce. During the interview, Musk's emotions escalated when Faber casually mentioned the policy, leading him to remark emphatically, "Get off the goddamn moral high horse with the work-from-home bullshit because they're asking everyone else to not work from home while they do."

Furthermore, Musk contended that if individuals engaged in physically demanding jobs like delivering food or constructing buildings cannot work remotely, office workers should be held to the same standard.

Also Read 

'Buying Netflix at $4 billion would've been better instead of...': Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer

ChatGPT beats top investment funds in stock-picking experiment