Remote work is no longer acceptble: Slightly Different Perspective

It seems like I have been seeing a lot of people posting on LinkedIn about being laid off from their company. It seemed to start with Elon Musk’s email regarding returning to work which many speculated was a way to reduce staff without layoffs. One thing I find fascinating about this turn of events is that the justification for layoffs seems to be more of a precaution than a sign of financial health. I know a lot has been written on this subject already, and many may be sick of hearing about it, but I think there is more to explore.

First, people are probably right. Elon likely announced that he was ending remote work to encourage attrition rather than laying off a large portion of his staff. This is a smart move given that a layoff would likely require him to comply with the WARN Act, which provides some protections to employees and is probably a headache for Elon and his leadership team. I think that it had an added benefit though, fighting unionization.

I know some may think it is a bit of a stretch that he would make this announcement to help fight unions, and perhaps he did not purposely do that, but I think there is an argument that it could have that effect. For those that have not seen it (which is probably no one) here is a copy of the original email and the follow-up email.

If that was not clear enough, he sent a follow-up email.

So how can I argue that this message has the intended (maybe unintended) effect of fighting unionization? Just a couple of sentences:

“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.”

And

“The more senior you are, the more visible must be your presence. That is why I lived in the factory so much – so that those on the line could see me working alongside them.”

These lines tell me that Elon is telling his factory workers (who are the most likely to unionize), “I care about you. I have been with you in the trenches and have your back. You don’t need anyone but me.” He can see that unions are working hard to gain strongholds in large companies such as Starbucks, Apple, Trader Joes, and Target. Tesla has also felt pressure from the United Auto Workers for many years but has successfully prevented unionization. These emails are just another part of a covert effort to prevent unionization.

It is interesting that the richest person on earth positions himself as an Average Joe and that people seem to believe it. He is unlike most of us and does not understand the average person’s struggles. He can get loans to buy whatever he wants instead of selling stock or collecting a paycheck, which has the added bonus of avoiding taxes. Can you do that?

Now I know this probably seems like I am Elon bashing and a union supporter, but neither is true. I am not mad at Elon; he is working within the system. If I were in his position, I would likely do the same thing, as would everyone who will ever read this. The government allows this kind of stuff to go on, so why would I hate Elon? I am also not a big advocate of unions. I believe people should have the right to unionize but I also believe unions can cause a lot of harm and companies should have the right to campaign against them within the bounds of the law. Unions campaign aggressively and generally have much more leeway on how they campaign (I know some may disagree). I see no reason companies should sit on the sidelines.

If Elon wants to strategically avoid unions and layoffs, go right ahead; however, let’s also be honest about it. I don’t know whether Elon cares about his employees, but his actions seem to favor a particular class of employees, making me question his motive. Additionally, his layoffs are due to a precaution rather than a financial need. So Elon is signaling to his employees, “I have your back when things are good, but when things look scary, you’re on your own.” What long-term effect will this have on hiring or retention? Why would anyone want to work for a company that will cut them before there is any real need to? I think most people understand layoffs when a company is struggling financially, but a preemptive layoff tells people you only care about yourself. But it’s your right to do that Elon; just stop pretending to care about workers.