Elon Musk rips remote work as ‘bulls–t’ and ‘morally wrong’

Tesla CEO Elon Musk lambasted remote working as “bulls–t” and “morally wrong” in his latest round of criticism against the employment practice that defined the pandemic era.

Musk, one of the richest people in the world, referred to Silicon Valley’s tech workers as the “laptop classes living in la-la-land,” in an interview with CNBC’s David Faber on Tuesday.

He told Faber he believes working in the office boosts productivity — and that employees who refused to return to an in-person setting after COVID-19 restrictions ended need to “get off their moral high horse” and get back to work like everyone else.

“The whole work-from-home thing, it’s sort of like, I think it’s, like, there are some exceptions, but I kind of think that the whole notion of work-from-home is a bit like, you know, the fake Marie Antoinette quote, ‘Let them eat cake,'” Musk said in the wide-ranging interview.

“It’s like, it’s like really? You’re gonna work from home and you’re gonna make everyone else who made your car come work in the factory? You’re gonna make people who make your food that gets delivered – they can’t work from home? The people that come fix your house? They can’t work from home, but you can? Does that seem morally right? That’s messed up.”

When Faber asked him if he believes it’s a moral issue, the South African replied, “Yes.”

“It’s a productivity issue, but it’s also a moral issue,” he said. “People should get off their goddamn moral high horse with this bulls–t because they’re asking everyone else to not work from home while they do. It’s wrong.”

Return-to-office directives in Silicon Valley and across the country have been met with resistance from workers, frustrating executives.

Productivity at companies apparently slackened and investor expectations grew, leading executives at companies such as Amazon and Salesforce to demand workers return to their offices, according to CNBC.

Musk has been an outspoken critic of remote work.

Following his blockbuster $44 billion purchase of Twitter, Musk sent an email to all employees in November telling them they will no longer be permitted to work from home unless he personally approves it and should expect to be in the office for 40 hours a week.