Here's a rather more likely reality: The workers have noticed Elon likes to see everyone acting busy and has a propensity for causing a lot of trouble when he

Here's a rather more likely reality: The workers have noticed Elon likes to see everyone acting busy and has a propensity for causing a lot of trouble when he doesn't see what he likes. Therefore, they act busy when he's around, and go back to normal, productive work when he's not.