Elon Musk gave an ultimatum to his Tesla staff to stop phoning it in and return to the office. He ordered in an email that the staff must get back to the office for at least 40 hours a week or resign.
On Thursday, this demand from Musk got unsympathetic dismissal from Germany’s largest trade union, IG Metall union. Tesla has a staff of around 4,000 in Germany and plans to expand the workforce to 12,000.
The trade union in Berlin-Brandenburg-Sachsen said it would give support to every employee who opposed Musk’s demand.
The leaders from IG Metall in Berlin-Brandenburg-Sachsen have issued statements that the trade union in Germany will stand behind each employee who does not agree with such one-sided demands and wants to stand against them.
There are currently no laws consecrating a right to work from home in Germany, but the labor ministry is working on policies that would increase workers’ flexibility. In the wake of the pandemic, several large employers, including automobile manufacturers, have already embraced a hybrid working model, which pushed the organizations to send staff home to work.
Luxury carmakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz also have come in support of the hybrid model. They reinforced that hybrid working is the future’s working model… different forms are possible, from complete presence in the office to predominantly remote working.
Musk, who made himself the world’s richest man by shifting the traditional car sector to an all-electric future, had strong words for companies that didn’t require staff to return to the office full-time.
Musk sarcastically mentioned in his email that there may be companies that don’t push working from the office, but when was the last time they manufactured a great new product?
