Leaked emails show Musk demanding in-person work.

Since the beginning of remote work movements brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has not been subtle about his opposition. Musk regularly required his production plants to remain open and workers on-site during the height of the pandemic, decrying orders to close as “fascist.” According to a new pair of leaked emails obtained by Electrek, Musk is putting his foot down on remote work, demanding in-person participation or resignation.

Elon Musk reportedly declares remote work ‘no longer acceptable’ at Tesla https://t.co/Z80AF7BPM6 pic.twitter.com/BJ3O8rAPnJ

— The Verge (@verge) June 1, 2022

“If you don’t show up, we will assume you have resigned,” Musk said in one of the emails.

“Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla,” Musk added. “This is less than we ask of factory workers.”

“If there are particularly exceptional contributors for whom this is impossible, I will review and approve those exceptions directly.”

Elon Musk tells Tesla staff they face being fired unless they do 40 hours in the office before working from home https://t.co/LDhibZAUST

— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) June 1, 2022

“There are of course companies that don’t require this, but when was the last time they shipped a great new product? It’s been a while,” Musk wrote in the other email, adding that “Tesla would long ago have gone bankrupt” had he not spend as much time physically in the office as he did.

While Musk neither confirmed nor denied the accuracy of the leaked emails, in response to a comment on Twitter asking about people who believe in-person work is outdated, Musk said “They should pretend to work somewhere else.”