Elon Musk Calls Remote Work ‘Bullshit’ and ‘Morally Wrong’ | Hacker News Reader

Elon Musk Calls Remote Work ‘Bullshit’ and ‘Morally Wrong’

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12 pointsCharlesW16 comments

I think Elon is on the wrong side of history on this one. According to data from Kastle Systems [1], back to work has stalled at between 50-60% of pre-pandemic levels. Even outside of tech, at best, companies are forcing workers back 2-3 days per week. The WSJ reported yesterday on the fire sale conditions in the commercial property market, with buildings selling for 30-80% lower prices than in 2019, leading to intensely lower leasing rates on new space.

If you have to work in a lab with special equipment, I can see needing to go in to work. But if your job is at a keyboard, what’s the point, precisely? People are more productive at home once they get things set up properly, which I think has largely happened by now.

[1] https://www.kastle.com/safety-wellness/getting-america-back-...

especially if your team isn't even in the same building.

Also if you want to people to put their 40 hours a week regardless of what work you want done then pay them by the hour.

Oh yes, like my friend at Amazon who tells me he goes into the office (as required) only to sit in a booth and talk to other people who also work for Amazon in other buildings.

The fact that the wealthiest guy on the planet (in a time of unprecedented wealth disparity worldwide) who has 8 kids with 3+ women and is a notorious troll that makes dumb jokes on twitter gets any credibility when commenting about morality is just a reflection on how broken our society is.

If you're not doing work that is almost bound by law to be done in an office (like certain segments of finance due to insider trading laws, or defense/aerospace research due to secrecy laws and national security), let people work where they want to.

I love the office, I really do. I understand why some people like the office, and why some people don't. But I'm not in the majority, and I don't want to impose my ideals on others if said others can be just as productive at a space of their choosing (within reason such as time zone, etc...), let them do it.

> 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?

His argument that it's "morally wrong" for one person to have a privilege that another cannot enjoy. This is exceedingly rich coming from a guy with a private jet. Absolutely hilarious.

Let's flip it. I have the ability to work from home because the output of my brain can be conveyed directly to my employer through a series of tubes. If I drive to work, then I'm polluting, contributing to traffic, to wear and tear on the roadways, and spending less time working for my employer. I'm making it harder for the factory workers, the delivery people etc., that musk is so concerned* for, to get to their places of work. It is morally wrong for me to commute when it is not necessary for me to do so.

* bullshit

I love seeing all these helpless billionaires and business owners flail trying to get people back in the office, with increasingly BS reasons. The world moved on and they can't stand they lost a tiny bit of control over workers.

I would agree with him to a point. Productivity on full remote workers can be difficult to track and is likely not higher than in office. When I worked from home full time, it was more difficult to maintain productivity as much as while in office. Also, the psychological benefits of in office work definitely come into play here. I believe a hybrid approach is the best and has many benefits (which I won't go into for brevity)

I agree for me personally. However I truly believe some people do better work 100% remote or fully in office. I don’t understand why it needs to be the same for everybody.

> Productivity on full remote workers can be difficult to track and is likely not higher than in office.

How so?

If you cannot track the productivity of workers without having to constantly monitor them in person, that is a symptom of unclear objectives and goals, and that is a bigger problem than having people working from home.

Productivity is exceptionally easy to track. Work is either delivered on time or its not.

Micromanaging and workplace surveillance on the other hand are indeed harder to perform on remote employees, and I love that for middle managers.

Alternate title: "Owner of car company wants people to keep commuting to work"

Wait until he launches "twitter for remote work" and then has a sudden change of heart.

But then people won't need Teslas to go to work. Hmm...

While I personally believe remote work is a net loss for workers (especially in high wage countries with good job protections), the economy, productivity, and society in generally, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if selling Teslas is the only factor driving Musk’s outbursts.

> I personally believe remote work is a net loss for workers (especially in high wage countries with good job protections)

Local remote workers do not compete with outsourcing companies, because outsourcing is about short term cost savings, not talent.

You cannot outsource talent. You cannot find skilled workers abroad by just searching in LinkedIn, and skilled workers are also less likely to work at ~~meat grinders~~ big consulting companies.

His fortune is tied to cars, of course he doesn't like the idea of people using them less, by not going to work. IMO most everything he does seems to be to thwart any effort to make a less car dependent society in the US.

I think Elon Musk's claims are bullshit and morality has nothing to do with it.

Lots of people are actually more productive without all the distractions of an office environment and the time wasted going to/from.

I am one of these.

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