“We will consider you to have resigned”: with these words, Elon Musk made it clear to Tesla employees that home office would no longer have a place in the company

“We will consider you to have resigned”: the day Elon Musk sent an ultimatum to employees about working from home

“We will consider you to have resigned”: with these words, Elon Musk made it clear to Tesla employees that working from home there would be no more space in the company. The billionaire, who has never hidden his aversion to remote work, sent an intimidating email in May 2022, leaving employees without much of a choice: return to the office or be away.

If the home office was the salvation for many companies During the pandemic, ensuring business continuity in difficult times, for Elon Musk, this type of work has always been a thorn in his side. Since the beginning of health restrictions, the South African billionaire has demonstrated deep discomfort with the measures imposed, especially with remote work. Although he was forced to adopt home working in his factories, Musk's dissatisfaction was evident.

Elon Musk's patience has reached its limit

In May 2022, Elon Musk's patience reached the limit. With a short but incisive email, he decreed the end of home office at Tesla. The message, sent on May 31, left no room for negotiation: “Everyone who works at Tesla must spend at least forty hours in the office per week. The office should be where your colleagues are, not a pseudo-remote office. If you don't show up, we will consider you to have resigned”, stated the billionaire, bluntly.

This rigid stance reflects Musk's thinking that physical presence is essential for a company's survival and success. He himself made a point of reminding employees that he lived at the factory during Tesla's most critical moments, suggesting that, without this dedication, the company would have already gone bankrupt.

Mixed reaction among Tesla employees

The decision generated a mixed reaction among Tesla employees. Many, who had moved to more remote locations during the pandemic, were placed in a difficult situation, forcing them to choose between their new lives and their careers. And this was not a situation exclusive to Tesla. When Elon Musk bought Twitter, he adopted a similar stance, gradually eliminating the company's home office, which resulted in a wave of layoffs and controversy.

For Musk, the logic is clear: if you want to work at Tesla, SpaceX or Twitter (now X), you need to be present in the office every day. His aversion to working from home is almost dogmatic, and he does not hesitate to repeat this speech whenever the opportunity arises.

Elon Musk's inflexible stance on working from home

Elon Musk's inflexible stance on working from home highlights an old-fashioned view of work, which ignores the profound changes brought by the pandemic and the evolution of the corporate environment. By imposing a binary choice on his employees – either you are in the office or you are out – Musk reinforces a work environment that may not keep up with new market demands and expectations. And, as we saw, many preferred the exit door.