“The laptop class is living in La La Land,” Twitter owner Elon Musk said last week in an interview with CNBC in which he strongly criticized the class of professionals who work at home because, in his opinion, They live in a fantasy world.

Although the tycoon is passionate about controversy, the phrase has gone around the world due to his harsh criticism of remote work, always championed by technology companies, especially since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It is not only a matter of productivity, but of moral superiority. Are you really going to telework and have the rest of the people who produce your car come to the factory? Can the people who make your food telework? The people who can fix your house can’t telework, but can you? Is that morally right?” questioned the owner of Tesla.

His strong conviction already prompted Twitter workers to return to the office full-time in November last year. The billionaire instituted an inflexible policy, very unusual in the technology sector. However, 100% remote work has not become the norm after the pandemic has ended either.

In fact, Big Tech wants their employees back in the office. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy made it clear in an open letter last February: “In person, people tend to be more engaged, observant, and connected to what’s happening in meetings. Also, collaborating and inventing is more effective and you also learn better.” Since then, the e-commerce giant has forced its employees to return to the office at least three days a week.

Apple has opted for the same policy, not without escaping controversy among employees. In the summer, they considered that their plan to set specific days – Monday, Tuesday and Thursday – to go to the office was too rigid an obligation for their productive needs. Finally, the company gave each work team a free day of choice.

In the case of Alphabet – the parent company of Google and YouTube – the policy is the same (3 days in the office, 2 at home), although the company has opened up the possibility of working entire weeks from wherever the worker wants. With some exceptions, such as the Youtube Music division, which has raised eyebrows by forcing workers to come to the office every five working days. Faced with the change in conditions, the workers have threatened to go on strike due to the added costs of commuting to the office every day.

Microsoft is somewhat more flexible than the rest of the companies mentioned, allowing some positions to work completely remotely and others to come to the office half the days. Of the big tech companies, Meta –owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp– is the one that maintains the full-time work-from-home policy for those employees who so wish. However, in March of this year, Mark Zuckerberg was open to increasing face-to-face days in the office. In the midst of the large layoffs and the questioned commitment to the metaverse, the company has still not taken any firm steps with a decision that seems unpopular among the most privileged workers in the market.