Elon Musk tells employees to return to office or ‘pretend to work’ elsewhere

Neither Musk nor Tesla confirmed he sent a memo with the remarks but the CEO echoed the call on Twitter

Tesla joins a wave of companies mandating a return to the office for employees. Picture: Susan Walsh.

Elon Musk, the Tesla chief executive, has asked employees to return to the office or “pretend to work somewhere else”, according to a memo sent to staff.

About 30% of US office workers are still working from home, according to Nick Bloom, a Stanford economics professor and co-founder of Working from Home Research Project. Many companies are moving to a hybrid work model where staff will come in two or three days a week.