Elon Musk explains why he literally 'lived' in Tesla factory over remote working issue

“The more senior you are, the more visible must be your presence”, believes Tesla CEO Elon Musk who claims to have spent many nights sleeping in the Tesla factory. In a purported company-wide email that surfaced recently, Musk addressed his employees on the subject of remote working. Clearly not in support of the idea, he has warned that every Tesla employee must work a minimum of 40 hours in the office where “actual colleagues” are located instead of some “pseudo office”.

“If you don’t show up, we will assume you have resigned”, the mail read further. This was shared on Twitter by a user named Sheel Mohnot whose profile says he is a fintech seed investor. 

Musk explains why he ‘lived’ in a Tesla factory

Addressing his employees, Musk implied that higher work hours are directly linked to the level of seniority. “That is why I lived in the factory so much so that those on the line could see me work alongside them”. The CEO even went on to say that Tesla would have gone bankrupt long ago if he had not done so. 

He even compared these work policies with other companies saying that those companies don’t require this, which according to Musk, is why they have fallen short in “shipping a great new product”. 

"Tesla has and will create and actually manufacture the most exciting and meaningful products of any company on Earth. This will not happen by phoning it in", he added. Recently, another mail purportedly from Musk did rounds on the social media where he warned his employees to show up for work or quit their jobs. However, neither the world's richest man nor Tesla has confirmed that he sent the memo to his employees. But in a reply to a Twitter follower asking for ​additional comments, Musk wrote, "They should pretend to work somewhere else."

Notably, Musk’s two major companies - the electric car maker Tesla and aerospace giant SpaceX - have their factories in Texas. It was in 2021 when Tesla was moved from California to Austin in Texas due to relatively easy business regulations and $64 million worth of local and state incentives.