Tesla CEO, Elon Musk has condemned working from home as ‘morally wrong’, saying the practice is unfair for service workers who still have to show up.
In an interview with CNBC’s David Faber on Tuesday May 17, Mr Musk described the people working remotely as “laptop classes”, saying that the issue extended beyond productivity concerns.
He told the network’s David Faber that he believes being in the office boosts productivity, but also said his opposition to working from home was a ‘moral issue’.
He likened the concept of working from home to a quote often attributed to Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France before the French Revolution.
“I think that the whole notion of work from home is a bit like the fake Marie Antoinette quote, ‘Let them eat cake’,” Mr Musk said.
“It’s not just a productivity thing. I think it’s morally wrong.”
Mr Musk criticised the hypocrisy of expecting service industry workers to go to work while others had the privilege of working from home.
“Get off the goddamn moral high horse with the work-from-home bulls**t,” he 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.
“It’s not just a productivity thing, I think it’s morally wrong.”
The tech mogul has been a fierce advocate of return-to-office policies.
In June 2022, he imposed a strict policy, warning employees that they would lose their jobs if they did not comply.
The policy required employees to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office a week and anything less would be “phoning it in”.
“The laptop class is living in la-la land,” he said.
