Tesla CEO Elon Musk has not hesitated to express his disagreement with remote work during his company's third quarter financial results conference call. This is not the first or second time that Musk has complained about those who refuse to go to the office to work. The richest person in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with an estimated net worth of $226 billion, believes that those who defend this way of working give off "Marie Antoinette vibes."
This comment was in reference to a comment that, according to legend, was made by “Madame Déficit” (nickname given to the Archduchess of Austria and Queen Consort of France for her reputation as a spendthrift): “Let them eat cakes.” According to legend, it is the phrase she uttered when she was informed that the people - shortly before the French Revolution broke out - did not even have bread to eat; That is to say, it was a way of showing how little he cared about the situation.
According to the CEO of Tesla and X, teleworkers are selfish people who are taking advantage of those who cannot work remotely. Musk used himself as an example, explaining that during certain crucial moments in his career he slept in Tesla factories because of the importance of his work. Some of these episodes are narrated in the biography that Walter Isaacson published about Musk last September.
The coronavirus pandemic accelerated the mass adoption of teleworking around the world. However, Musk and other business leaders have repeatedly raised concerns about the need to get people back into offices to regain productivity. In fact, the technology magnate went so far as to describe this type of work as "morally incorrect." “Why did I sleep in the factory so many times? Because it mattered," said the South African in this recent telephone conversation.
When it acquired Twitter last year, it already announced that it expected employees to work 40 hours a week in the office, even transforming some offices into bedrooms to meet work deadlines, hoping that, despite changes in the work paradigm had raised the pandemic, the staff met their expectations and their commitment.
In contrast to Musk's vision, and despite his criticism, some companies are adopting a hybrid approach that combines office work and remote work. Additionally, remote working has gained popularity due to its advantages, such as time and cost savings, access to global talent, and a focus on sustainability.
Leading technology companies, such as Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Zoom and Shopify, have adopted remote work and workplace flexibility policies. They have recognized the benefits of this modality, such as the possibility of accessing global talent and improving sustainability.
According to data collected by Upwork, 12.7% of employees in the United States currently work from home full-time, while 28.2% do so in a hybrid model. However, the majority of the workforce, 59.1%, still commutes to the office.
