Elon Musk criticized for hypocrisy over comments about remote work

Elon Musk has once again stirred controversy with his new comments on remote work. In an interview with CNBC , he called the practice “unethical” and said that remote workers are living in a dreamland. He feels it is unfair that they get to work from a comfortable place, while people who make cars or prepare food have no choice but to go to work every day.

Elon Musk in an interview with CNBC. (Photo: CNBC)

Soon after, many tech workers took to the social network Blind to call Musk a “hypocrite” and mock him. One Meta employee wrote: “Immoral? Hoarding billions of dollars is immoral.”

Despite being an anonymous site, Blind requires users to provide proof of where they work to verify their identity. Blind members posted hundreds of comments and created nearly a dozen threads about Musk’s statements. A Rivian employee even launched a poll on the issue, with 480 people agreeing that Musk was “wrong.”

“If so, flying private is unethical because other people have to fly commercial,” one Apple employee commented. According to a person who tracks Musk’s flights, Musk’s private plane was used more than 130 times last year, including several flights lasting less than 30 minutes.

Other members of Blind have accused Musk of working remotely, as he holds executive positions at five companies, all headquartered in different states. In 2022, Musk frequently traveled between Texas and California, working on Tesla while eating, sleeping, and working at Twitter.

Some have tried to discredit Musk’s argument by saying that he only says this because he wants people to continue driving to work and buying new cars. One Google employee scoffed: “Gardeners have to work outside in the sun all day, why do we dare to work in air-conditioned houses. People should work outside in the sun and sweat, anything else is unethical.”

While many people oppose Musk, a few seem to sympathize with the billionaire. One employee from the payments company WePay said : “The entitlement of our generation is disgusting. Gardeners, plumbers, convenience store workers cannot work remotely, and you demand the ‘right’ to do so.”

This isn't the first time Musk has railed against remote work. Last year, he told Tesla employees to return to the office full-time or quit. He also made Twitter employees do the same after buying the social network.

Other tech companies are taking steps to encourage employees to work in offices, but are facing resistance. Some are choosing to quit rather than return.

(According to BI)

Twitter's new CEO is "inspired" by Elon Musk . Linda Yaccarino, the new CEO of Twitter, expressed that she was inspired by Elon Musk's "vision of creating a brighter future".

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