There aren't many times when I find myself in complete disagreement with Elon Musk's outings. In the last year it has happened only twice: the first, when Musk took on the role of the ready-to-wear philosopher, debasing all the efforts of science and medicine to extend human life. “Better to die, there is more replacement“, his summary. We'll talk about it when it's older.
The second time I disagreed was this week. In defiance of an entire global movement of people who are redefining their relationship between work and private life, Musk cut it short, sending an email to his Tesla employees. An email that essentially said, "if you want to continue working remotely and not return to the office, consider that you have resigned".
A singular and clear stance, which as often happens is used as a pretext by European dinosaurs to affirm the uselessness of smart working and the wisdom of losing 3 hours of traffic to spend 8 in the office. Never was a vision more shortsighted.
But what's behind Musk's exit?
“Follow the money” was the famous phrase from an equally famous film with Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford, “All the President's Men”. Follow the money and you're never wrong.
This is why it is important to highlight another email from Musk sent yesterday to Tesla executives (not employees). Reuters mentions it in a great article. The gist of the email: Tesla needs to suspend hiring around the world and reduce its workforce by about 10%. We are talking about nearly 10.000 employees (a few months ago a Tesla document indicated just under 100.000 employees in the world). In the email seen by Reuters, Musk says he has a “super bad feeling” about the economy.
It's not the first time Musk has carried out these cleanups. October 2017, from the Tesla office 400 to 700 employees disappeared. June 2018, out 9% of the workforce. January 2019, off about 7% of the workforce. April 2020, other layoffs and pay cuts.
The problem is not in the office, it is outside
It is worth underlining, to the chain's local "fans" at the office desk, that Musk's statements have little to do with the validity of remote working. Their origin is very far from here: could it depend on the collapse of cryptocurrencies? Dogecoin, Musk's "favorite" has lost 60% of its value, and Bitcoin (Tesla bought it for $1,5 billion last year) is also declining. Or it could depend on China, where the closure of the Tesla Gigafactory due to Covid will impact the company's deliveries.
And so on to cutting costs (i.e. people, lately it has become almost an equivalence) despite the fact that the demand for electric vehicles still far exceeds production, and Tesla itself recorded a profit of over 3 billion dollars in the first quarter 2022.
Let's be clear: I adore Musk, he is reinventing the future and achieving one success after another (by the way, write down the date September 30th and one word: robot), but I really have the impression that he has come up with this stretched praise of office just to justify the layoffs. You must never forget that he is still an unbridled capitalist, the richest in the world. A world in which if someone like Musk becomes bad, another multinational comes to take on the role of the "good saviors", not the Red Cross.
And indeed Microsoft arrives.
The Salvation Army
Just yesterday (what a timing!) Tiana Watts-Porter, Microsoft's Technical Recruiter, urged Tesla employees to "escape" the shackles of the office in a since-deleted Linkedin post.
“Here at Microsoft and our affiliates LinkedIn and GitHub we offer ALL THE OPTIONS!” he emphasized. Even working from home, offcourse.
Because this, gentlemen, is the next battleground. Because people are not a cost, but a value: and if new awareness brings people less present in the office, equally present at work but more present in family life, this is a trend.
A trend that can overturn an atavistic blackmail: that of "if you leave, there are others who will immediately take your place".
No sir. If you really want me in the office, in this case, there are other companies that will accept my job remotely.
We don't need Musk to reiterate the obvious, it can be done without an office
No one is proposing that employees can do industrial welding from home, but cars don't just mean working on the production line. Roles such as design and engineering use computer software to develop vehicle designs and systems, employing many different skills.
And do we want to talk about marketing, business development, accounting, human resources, finance and a host of other roles? None of these NEED a physical office. Musk can decide what to do with his life from the top of his billions, but the lives of parents, guardians, citizens who need of a balance in their existence.
I hope Elon faces different issues next time he opens Twitter.
