• The Level Ups
  • Posts
  • 🤕 “In The Office or You’re Gone,” Elon's Ultimatum (Analysis)

🤕 “In The Office or You’re Gone,” Elon's Ultimatum (Analysis)

PLUS: Kanye cuts ties with Gap

Author

Darwin B
September 30, 2022

Welcome to The Level Ups. Modern business news for the future business leader (explained in plain-Jane English).

Today:

  • Elon's return to the office ultimatum

  • There's much more to the story (analysis)

  • Kanye cuts ties with the Gap

Today’s article is a little different than usual. I’ll be breaking down business moves from individuals. Let me know if you like it in the poll at the end!

Let’s get into it.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes & 20 seconds.

Tough Day At The Office

Elon Musk released an “aggressive” return to the office memo to his team in two emails:

First: Subject: Remote work is no longer acceptable

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. 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.

Moreover, the “office” must be a main Tesla office, not a remote branch office unrelated to the job duties, for example being responsible for Fremont factory human relations, but having your office be in another state.

Thanks,

Elon

Follow-up email: Subject: To be super clear

Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week. Moreover, the office must be where your actual colleagues are located, not some remote pseudo office. If you don’t show up, we will assume you have resigned.

The more senior you are, the more visible must be your presence. That is why I lived in the factory so much – so that those on the line could see me working alongside them. If I had not done that, Tesla would long ago have gone bankrupt.

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.

Tesla has and will create and actually manufacture the most exciting and meaningful products of any company on Earth. This will not happen by phoning it in.

Elon

Thanks,

The two things I’m going to address:

  1. The media and Twitter picked it up, and it went viral.

  2. Companies (some, not all) used it as an excuse to install their own return to the office policies.

Many people I know and work with literally told me that if Tesla’s doing it, that’s the better way to run a company. Not sure I agree.

Could be the case. But I think there’s more to the story.

Why Else?

Before the announcement, Tesla's stock price was tanking. Here’s the chart. He sent it where it’s marked with the orange dotted line (the stock price dropped hard before the announcement).

It was time to make cuts, but he knew that coming out and saying “bad market, have to start cutting people” would make the price tank even harder. So, he did something clever.

He released that work-from-home notice, so the media focused on that. Then, low-key, he started sending emails and issuing internal memos.

The next day, he said on Twitter that the headcount would increase anyway. Which one was it?

The return to the office notice seemed like a distraction so the Tesla investors wouldn’t think he was losing control.

"Shaping the Narrative"

Of course, investors are not (often) stupid.

But the element of control is a vital part of “shaping the narrative,” and the stories we tell matter.

Better to look like he’s making moves on his terms compared to “bad market, we have to do this” in public.

At least, it seems this way to me.

But there’s another element to all this and why it’s smart. Many business leaders and managers might feel stupid for following his lead.

Or will they?

Same Outcomes, Different Approach

Releasing his return to office policy wasn’t just about distracting the media and the masses.

It also probably triggered employees who HAVE to work from home to leave Tesla. He was looking to do that anyway.

This way, they leave without having to fire them (no severance when someone quits either).

Again, just my assessment. It’s smart in some ways while dubious in others. You can decide how you feel about it.

I have a strong hunch that bosses trying to be like Elon and push their staff back into the office are coincidentally short-staffed. Not all, but some.

Many other big companies are doing the opposite: letting people continue working from home or making remote work permanent.

It’s a tricky time to be facing layoffs.

If you’re in that situation, I offer free resume reviews (while my time lasts). Check out resume.thelevelups.com.

Kanye & The Gap đź’”

Mind the gap because Kanye’s f*ck you (in the most polite way possible).

The New York Post covered the story, saying he went “medieval,” but I don’t know about that. See for yourself:

Here’s a quick summary:

  • Kanye says he wanted reasonably priced items, but Gap controlled all the pricing and set Yeezy-Gap items at $200 - $300.

  • At the same time, they allegedly copied the design of his shirts and sold them separately for $19.

  • The agreement was that they would build Yeezy-Gap-specific stores, but they never did. Worse, they ignored him when he repeatedly brought it up.

  • Gap was alleged to have “sequestered” his line (lawyer speak for deliberately hid it or kept it out of view).

If that’s all true, I would have done the same. When the partnership was announced, Kanye took a lot of heat and defended the deal believing Gap would honour their end of it.

Wouldn’t you be pissed?

Gap’s Response:

Mark Breitbard, Gap’s President, responded “we’re not aligned” (that’s the short version). It seems like the most diplomatic answer he could’ve offered. He clarified that GAP did not break its end of the deal.

Kanye shouldn’t be surprised either way.

Gaps former warned him not to enter this partnership, and he did anyway.

As for the current President, he’s not Elon.

There’s no "shaping the narrative" with Kanye. Saying “we’re not aligned” is the move.

No need to get into a public argument with Ye. Better to wrap it up asap and move on before there’s any more unwanted attention.

Gap’s stock is already down ~10% this month, partially because of this announcement.

What’s Next?

Kanye mentioned building his own stores instead. I’m sure it’ll be a success the way things are going. Despite this issue and his trolling, he’s still the same Kanye.

Trolling? He’s got his ex-wife’s mother as his IG profile photo. It’s hilarious.

Thanks for reading!

What did you think of this email?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

See you Monday,

Darwin