Elon Musk is reportedly demanding weekly updates on employee attendance at Tesla’s offices as part of an aggressive return-to-office push that has caused some friction among workers.
The reports collected by Musk and other Tesla executives are based on badge swipes at the company’s offices, a report said Thursday. The documents compare the number of unexpected absences among staffers against scheduled time off to provide a daily view.
Despite the strict directive, Tesla still lacks the room and the gear necessary to accommodate all of its workers onsite, CNBC reported, citing company sources and internal documents.
Musk’s return-to-office mandate has purportedly resulted in a “significant decline in morale among some employees,” the outlet said, citing internal messages.
Tesla’s facility in Fremont, California, reportedly doesn’t have enough chairs, desks or parking spots, leading managers to stagger employee schedules.
The extent of the attendance tracking, meanwhile, reportedly depends on the Tesla employees’ role – with executives reporting directly to Elon Musk not included on the weekly spreadsheets.
Musk has been outspoken on his view that onsite work is a necessity – warning workers on May 31 that they needed to return to the office full time or the company “will assume you have resigned.”
“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,” Musk said in one of his emails to staffers.
Musk said remote work would only be considered for a select few workers and be approved on a case-by-case business.
“If there are particularly exceptional contributors for whom this is impossible, I will review and approve those exceptions directly,” Musk said. “Moreover, the ‘office’ must be a main Tesla office, not a remote branch office unrelated to the job duties.”
The billionaire dismissed criticism he faced on social media over the strict rules, declaring that workers who felt office work was unnecessary should “pretend to work somewhere else.”
Aside from a lack of desks, CNBC reported that Tesla’s offices are experiencing shortages of basic items such as charging cords. Some workers have purportedly taken phone calls outdoors because the site lacks sufficient conference rooms.
Roughly 10% of Tesla employees are absent from the office on a given workday, with numbers rising on weekends and during holidays, according to the report.
The Post has reached out to Tesla for comment on the report.
As The Post reported, a number of Wall Street firms pushed for a more extensive return-to-office after Labor Day Weekend – despite pushback from junior staffers.
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