Elon Musk's office mandate, recession fears complicate new work era

Musk's recent demand that all Tesla Inc. employees get back to their desks or find work elsewhere has made him the latest figurehead of the return-to-office movement

Many bosses have longed for some leverage to prod more workers back to the office. Recession worries, a rash of hiring freezes and a broadside from the world’s richest person may have just made it easier. 

For more than two years, millions of white-collar workers at companies from Apple Inc. to American Express Co. have grown accustomed to greater flexibility in where and when they work, and a red-hot labor market has given them license to push back on pleas from CEOs to return to their pre-pandemic office routine. Now, recession fears have clouded companies’ outlooks, prompting some to curtail hiring