Despite Elon and other employers clinging to the ‘return to normalcy’ narrative, the data and evidence suggest that remote work is the future.
Was Elon Musk wrong for insisting that all his staff return to the office, and banning remote work at Tesla? The answer, according to experts and research, is a resounding yes, and that his antiquated view of remote work making people unproductive is simply wrong. “Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week,” Musk recently wrote in an email to staff titled “To be super clear.
“Moreover, the office must be where your actual colleagues are located, not some remote pseudo-office. If you do not show up, we will assume you have resigned.”This begs the question where Musk has been over the past two years making a statement like this, and whether he has even heard of theOne expert who thinks Musk, and other employers like him, have got it wrong.
“In South Africa, companies face a real risk of the rapid call-back impacting on their bottom line. We are already fielding calls daily from highly sought-after professionals who are not prepared – through choice, changed circumstance or both – to return to the way things were before Covid.” If they do, it could result in losing people, developing a toxic workplace and failing to attract good people down the line, Naidoo says.
She says you have to respect Musk for speaking out and admitting to the challenges companies are facing by trying to keep employees happy. Musk’s anti-future of work attitude has been criticised by experts such as Christopher J. Dwyer, who wrote for The Future of Work Exchange: “In our recent Adapt survey, we found that 65% of employees who are forced back into the office full-time say they are more likely to look for a new job, while 46% are attracted to jobs that focus on employee well-being and 42% want the ability to work from home when they want.”Productive in office will be productive from home