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Return to the office full-time or find another job – that is the ultimatum reportedly given to Tesla employees by boss Elon Musk.
As first reported by electric vehicle news site Electrek, the billionaire CEO sent an email to office staff saying "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. This is less than we ask of factory workers”.
He added: "If you don't show up, we will assume you have resigned”, but also clarified that he would personally review any exemption requests.
Hybrid and home working models have been largely embraced by the global workforce since the start of the pandemic, with many employees noting an uptick in work-life balance and wellbeing, but as we’ve seen in Musk’s comments, bosses aren’t afraid to admonish their workers over their preference for remote and hybrid roles.
Earlier in 2022, Goldman Sachs announced plans to have its employees work from the office five days a week.
As first revealed by CNBC, the banking giant asked colleagues at its New York City HQ to return to their pre-pandemic working routines in a move which, according to the publication, comes just weeks after only half of the company's 10,000 employees showed up to the NYC office when it reopened on February 1, after Omicron restrictions were lifted.
Workers were reportedly given more than two weeks' notice to prepare for the return to office, the Daily Mail reported.
Last year, the firm’s CEO David Solomon called working from home “'...an aberration that we're going to correct as quickly as possible" during a business conference.
According to the Daily Mail, despite Solomon acknowledging that many firms have made a success of remote and hybrid working, he said the practice “is not ideal for us, and it's not a new normal”.
And an expert has suggested that the decision of such a massive firm like Goldman Sachs could inspire other businesses to march their staff back to the office on a full-time basis.
Peter Cappelli, a Business Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told CNBC: “Most companies are watching what others are doing before committing to their RTO plans”.
He added: “Nobody wants to make the first move – but now that you see a large, well-known company say it's time to come back to the office, I think we'll see more of a stampede of others doing the same.”
But these demands are seemingly at odds with the general consensus on home working among US employees. Analysis released earlier this year by Pew Research Center found that 61% of workers who had the option of an office are choosing not to go into their workplace.
And this isn’t as much down to the fear of catching COVID as you might think. The same study found that 42% cited being exposed to the virus as the main reason for wanting to stay remote, compared with 57% in 2020. A huge 76% simply admitted that they preferred working from home rather than the office these days, and many (44%) said working from home had made it easier for them to get their work done and meet deadlines.
Are Musk & co. right?
Last year, one in five professionals expressed anxiety about the prospect of missing out on both learning opportunities, and chances to progress when not in the office, according to a new report from Momentive.
However, additional data from banking behemoth Goldman Sachs found that businesses are now, on average, three per cent more productive per hour since the start of the pandemic – more than double the figure before remote work became more widely spread. The bank’s stats suggest this will continue to rise – with increased automation and worker efficiency also playing its part – to a huge four per cent by 2022.
Inclusivity is boosted by home working, study shows
Research has often touted the benefits of homeworking, with 2021 data indicating that organisations that have committed to supporting remote work seem to be carving out more inclusive work experiences for staff members.
The analysis from Glint – which looked at aggregated data from millions of staff engagement surveys from over 600 global firms – found that staff members at remote work-friendly organisations were 14% more likely to say that they felt safe to speak their minds.
Elsewhere, nine per cent were more likely to state that their leaders value different perspectives, compared to peers in organisations that haven’t enabled remote work.
Glint’s study also highlighted that virtual work can create a range of opportunities that can help to strengthen feelings of inclusion among employees.
For example, the data stated that virtual ways of working can provide increased flexibility for those with caregiving responsibilities and bypass location bias among other things.
Image - Debbie Rowe
