Billionaire businessman Elon Musk hit out at people who work from home, saying that it is an insult to those who are required to physically be in the workplace.
“I am a big believer that people are more productive when they are [there] in person,” Mr Musk, chief executive of electric vehicle company Tesla, said in an interview with CNBC.
“It’s not just a productivity thing – I think it’s morally wrong.”
Mr Musk also brought Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France before the French Revolution, into the discussion.
“The whole notion of work from home is a bit like the fake Marie Antoinette quote, ‘let them eat cake’ … it's like, really? You are going [to] work from home, and you are going [to] make everyone else who made your car come work in the factory … the people that come fix your house, they can't work from home, but you can?” Mr Musk asked.
“Does that seem morally right? That's messed up.”
The Covid-19 pandemic led to legions of workers becoming home-based, changed corporate norms, upended travel and boosted demand for shared office space that offers flexibility amid uncertainty.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, employees have been leaving their jobs at much higher rates than normal in what has been called “The Great Resignation”, as they seek a better work-life balance and more flexibility.
In March last year, a survey by financial services company Prudential found that 42 per cent of remote workers planned to look for a new job if their company did not continue to offer options to work from home in the long term.
Mr Musk has been a strong advocate for return-to-office policies.
In June last year, he told Tesla employees that “anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla”.
“This is less than we ask of factory workers,” he said at the time.
He also specified that the office must be a main Tesla office, not a remote branch unrelated to job duties.
Micro-blogging company Twitter was one of the first technology companies that allowed its employees to work from home permanently.
In May 2020, Jack Dorsey, the company’s chief executive at the time, announced the decision.
However, in November last year, Twitter's new owner Mr Musk sent a companywide email saying he was ending the permanent work from home policy.
He asked employees to come to the office at least 40 hours a week and also indicated that any alternative arrangements would need to be personally approved by him.
“The laptop class is living in La-La land,” Mr Musk told CNBC.
“People should get off their … moral high horse with the work-from-home.”
Mr Musk said that he works “seven days a week” and that there are only “two or three” days in a year when he does not put in some “meaningful amount of work”.
The years Ramadan fell in May
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
The five pillars of Islam
Read more about the coronavirus
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
