Going viral is more Elon Musk’s actual job than running Tesla or SpaceX these days, as the billionaire’s attempt to buy Twitter and troll folks has been more newsworthy than anything those companies he actually owns are actually putting on the market. But one of his actual business decisions has apparently not gone very well.
Earlier in the month, Musk mandated that all employees of Tesla must work from the office, undoing any work from home efforts that were put in place at the start of the still-ongoing coronavirus pandemic. That news sparked outrage from some who have found working from home a flexible solution to the everyday rigors of employment. It’s not for everyone, mind you, but making it for no one felt a bit draconian.
And according to a report in The Information, the mandate was entirely premature considering what it actually meant for employees who have been brought back into the office. As The Verge highlighted, Musk threatened to fire employees who did not primarily come into an office to work. But the Tesla offices have been overrun with people trying to not get fired, to the point where the company has run out of desks for its employees.
Current employees at Tesla told The Information that those who drove to work at the Fremont factory struggled to find a place to park. Some reportedly opted to park their cars at the nearby BART station instead and then get shuttled to work by Tesla.
Inside the office, The Information reports some workers didn’t even have a place to sit. The company reportedly decided to repurpose certain areas of the office during the pandemic and also didn’t account for a larger team. According to The Information, the desk situation was so bad that managers told some employees to work from home anyway. Even if employees could sit down, the Wi-Fi signal was too weak for them to work.
As the story noted, Musk did apparently soften his in-office demands to allow room for “exceptional” employees to stay home. But it seems only the exceptionally early will actually have anywhere to sit at Tesla until they order some more desks and chairs.
[via The Information]