Australian Billionaire Slams Elon Musk's Office Work Directive as 'Something Out of the 1950s'

In an email to Tesla executive staff that was recently leaked online, Musk insisted that those who wish to work remotely “must be in the office” for a minimum of 40 hours per week or “depart Tesla”.

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk recently came under fire on social media from Australian billionaire Scott Farquhar, who criticised the former over a matter of work conditions.

According to Daily Mail Australia, the development occurred after a couple of emails from Musk to the executive staff of Tesla were leaked online.

In the first email, Musk insisted that “anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla”, stating that "this is less than we ask of factory workers”, and elaborating further that the office he was referring to is “the main Tesla 'office'".

“If you don't show up, we will assume you have resigned”, he added in the second email.

Commenting on the missives, Farquhar tweeted that it “feels like something out of the 1950s”, and remarked how the employees of his company Atlassian “choose everyday where and how they want to work”.

News from @elonmusk & @tesla today feels like something out of the 1950s: "Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week". Very different approach to what we are taking at Atlassian and here's why. 🧵 (1/5)

— Scott Farquhar (@scottfarkas) June 2, 2022

Having elaborated further in a series of tweets on how things work in his enterprise, Farquhar noted that they are setting their sights on “growing Atlassian to 25K employees by FY26” and inquired whether “any Tesla employees” might be interested.

Some netizens praised him for the move and criticised Musk, with one social media user remarking that “the Telsa stance is baffling”.

Musk himself, however, did not seem particularly impressed by Farquhar’s move, tweeting in response: “The above set of tweets illustrate why recessions serve a vital economic cleansing function”.

The above set of tweets illustrate why recessions serve a vital economic cleansing function

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2022