Musk scorns working from home as morally wrong practice

Elon Musk has expressed his opinion that working from home is not only less productive but also morally wrong. He argued that it sends the wrong message to employees who do not have the option to work remotely, such as factory workers and other essential workers. Musk has been a proponent of return-to-office policies and has even required Tesla employees to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week.

Tesla Inc.’s chief executive officer said Tuesday that firing up the laptop from home lowers productivity and also sends the wrong signal to factory workers and other employees that don’t have that option. Musk referred to tech workers as the “laptop classes living in la-la-land,”

“People should get off the goddamn moral high horse with the work-from-home bulls***,” Musk said.

“People building the cars, servicing the cars, building houses fixing houses, making the food, making all the things that people consume. It’s messed up to assume that, yes, they have to go to work, but you don’t,” he said in an interview . “It’s not just a productivity thing, I think it’s morally wrong.”

Work-from-home for most people in white collar jobs became a preferred model during the pandemic, which allowed businesses to keep running amidst the necessary lockdowns that were aimed at preventing the COVID-19 virus from spreading.

While Musk’s stance on the productivity aspect of remote work can be debated, his argument about fairness is subjective. He believes that some people having access to the privilege of working from home while others do not is morally problematic. However, it is worth noting that disparities in access and opportunities are inherent in capitalist societies, where some individuals may have access to luxuries like supercars and private jets while others rely on public transport.

However, it is important to acknowledge that the ability to work from home is often seen as a privilege earned by individuals who have acquired the necessary skills for remote work.

It is also worth considering that many white-collar workers shifted to remote work during the pandemic, allowing businesses to continue operating despite lockdowns. However, as companies have started calling employees back to the office, there has been a spike in resignations. 

In India, more than 70 percent of the companies had moved into a hybrid model by October last year, which means employees need to turn up at the office at least a few times a week. Studies have shown that productivity slackened when people worked from home. Amazon and Salesforce have demanded workers begin to return to offices.

According to a study published in the University of Chicago press journals in February 2023, a survey of over 10,000 skilled professionals at HCL Technologies, a $35-billion Mumbai-based software services provider, showed that “hours worked increased, output declined slightly, and productivity fell 8 percent–19 percent.” 

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.