I've no irons in the fire here but it seems to me Elon sees the 'factory & cattle' model of business as preferred over other arrangements - that in software development doesn't necessarily hold.

There are many extremely successful software development companies - often free/libre open-source software based - where remote working is almost 100% and those people are engaged, self-motivated, and probably better contributors as a result (not least due to a self-defined work-life-family balance).