|
In
an internal email this week, the Tesla Inc chief executive said
"everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in
the office per week", and "if you don't show up, we will assume
you have resigned". That drew criticism from worker advocates
about potential exposure to the coronavirus.
The co-founder of Australian project management software maker
Atlassian Plc, Scott Farquhar, ridiculed the directive in a
series of tweets as being "like something out of the 1950s". The
U.S.-listed company's "work from anywhere" policy was "key for
our continued growth", he said.
"We're setting our sights on growing Atlassian to 25K employees
by FY26," Farquhar concluded. "Any Tesla employees interested?"
Musk shot back: "The above set of tweets illustrate why
recessions serve a vital economic cleansing function".
The exchange is not unusual for Musk, who frequently uses
Twitter to make unapologetic pronouncements about sensitive
subjects.
In Silicon Valley, many tech firms moved to mixed home and
office working during the pandemic, while others have set dates
for returning to the office only to push them back as new
outbreaks have occurred.
Musk, the world's wealthiest man and also CEO of SpaceX, also
has a record of taking on other billionaires. In 2021, he posted
an image of a second-place medal in response to a tweet by Jeff
Bezos celebrating the success of Amazon.com Inc.
In 2017, Farquhar's Atlassian co-founder, Mike Cannon-Brookes,
cooperated with Musk, publicly taking up and facilitating his
offer to supply a powerful Tesla battery installation for the
state of South Australia after it suffered a blackout in 2017.
Cannon-Brookes, who has since led a campaign to buy Australian
energy company AGL Energy Ltd and speed up its transition to
renewable power, reposted Farquhar's remarks criticising Musk's
return-to-office order.
(This story corrects to change to 'U.S.-listed' from
'London-listed' in paragraph 3)
(Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Bradley Perrett)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
