Leaked email - plans for 6000/wk by June

[R.S]

It may be middle management of the contracting agency (the nesting dolls) Even if it is line workers, Tesla supervisors may not have firing ability over contract employees.

Usually if you have "drunken sloths" working for you, it's a management problem.

A good example is the history of the Tesla factory. Back when it was operated by GM the workforce was described by the UAW(!) as the worst workforce in the automotive industry. With people literally coming to work drunk, building coke bottles into the cars and so on. Sometimes they couldn't even start production because there weren't enough people coming to work.

The Toyota took over, kept 85% of the people, improved working conditions, sent some workers to Japan for training and suddenly NUMMI was producing cars at the same speed as Japanese factories and with the same quality. The only reason why the factory was able to run in CA, was because they were efficient. And they achieved that by keeping the 85% least drunken sloths.

So maybe Tesla needs to reevaluate their management strategy here. Because a year from now they will have the same problem, if they just hire new contractors.

 

[TT97]

I'm not an expert on work law in the US, but in Germany they will have to continue to pay them. They signed an employment contract.

That is not the case in the U.S. Unless they can find them work elsewhere, they are not getting paid.

 

[voip-ninja]

I don't think many people on the factory floor will vouch for their temp agency colleagues, even if they do a good job. The engineers will surely vouch for their consultants, but they are in a different position.

I'm not an expert on work law in the US, but in Germany they will have to continue to pay them. They signed an employment contract.

Labor laws in the US are dramatically different than they are in Germany. Even if Tesla has a contract with the temp agency, that doesn't obligate the temp agency to pay workers that have been furloughed. At most, workers might get a week or two of pay as a send-off, if the temp agency is feeling generous.

My last company was down-sizing with an impending bankruptcy. I had been there for 19 years. If they had simply given me the boot I would have gotten six weeks of severance pay (not by law, by their choice) and could apply for unemployment benefits of about $500 a week that would last maybe six months.

So when they offered me and others an early-leave package that worked out to about 30% of a year's salary plus medical benefits for an extra six months, myself, and hundreds of others, jumped at the chance.

The US and German systems both have their advantages and disadvantages. I was highly motivated to land another job and was working at a new place, at a 15% higher salary, the week after I voluntarily departed with extra $$ in my pocket.

 

[R.S]

Labor laws in the US are dramatically different than they are in Germany. Even if Tesla has a contract with the temp agency, that doesn't obligate the temp agency to pay workers that have been furloughed. At most, workers might get a week or two of pay as a send-off, if the temp agency is feeling generous.

My last company was down-sizing with an impending bankruptcy. I had been there for 19 years. If they had simply given me the boot I would have gotten six weeks of severance pay (not by law, by their choice) and could apply for unemployment benefits of about $500 a week that would last maybe six months.

So when they offered me and others an early-leave package that worked out to about 30% of a year's salary plus medical benefits for an extra six months, myself, and hundreds of others, jumped at the chance.

The US and German systems both have their advantages and disadvantages. I was highly motivated to land another job and was working at a new place, at a 15% higher salary, the week after I voluntarily departed with extra $$ in my pocket.

Well, what happened to you is standard procedure in Germany. Your severance package would have probably been bigger, especially since you've been working there for 19 years (9-10 months salary) and you would have never lost health insurance, that's almost impossible in Germany.

 

[voip-ninja]

Well, what happened to you is standard procedure in Germany. Your severance package would have probably been bigger, especially since you've been working there for 19 years (9-10 months salary) and you would have never lost health insurance, that's almost impossible in Germany.

I had a colleague who got the boot in Germany due to down-sizing. He had 15 years at the time.

He got about one year at his full rate and then he got another year at 80% of his regular annual rate. His employer was also required to pay to help him find another job and re-train him in another profession if necessary.

Now that was 15 years ago, and maybe the benefits are less generous now.

 

[R.S]

I had a colleague who got the boot in Germany due to down-sizing. He had 15 years at the time.

He got about one year at his full rate and then he got another year at 80% of his regular annual rate. His employer was also required to pay to help him find another job and re-train him in another profession if necessary.

Now that was 15 years ago, and maybe the benefits are less generous now.

It also depends a lot on the company and why they fire the people. If it's a big company like Siemens closing down a small branch, they are going to pay a lot more, than a smaller company in financial trouble. Job finding programs are also very common. Also, companies need to be socially responsible in Germany, so if you are disabled, or have children, they need to try a lot harder, than if you are young and flexible.

IMO it's a pretty good system, because it gives a lot of security to the employees. So they can focus on their jobs and don't have to worry that much about the future. But maybe Americans don't really care that much, because they are more used to it.

 

[cwerdna]

They said they are going to hire 400 people per week for a while, I assume that is direct.
Tesla Model 3 production aims for 6,000 units per week in June after upgrade in May – ~5,000 with margin of error, says Elon Musk

And on that note (not sure if it's been discussed elsewhere), No Way To Run A Factory: Tesla's Hiring Binge Is A Sign Of Trouble, Not Progress basically says 400/week is nuts. They said Ford told them "The fastest we would hire 400 people would be 12-13 weeks," There are plenty of good reasons in there that make sense and if you know crazy Bay Area housing prices (so workers would need to have to come from very far away) along the low unemployment rate now (they mention "The unemployment rate in the East Bay counties of Alameda and Contra Costa is 3 percent, lower than the state and national rates")....

Fremont, where Tesla's plant is resides within Alameda County.

 

[MrAustraliaTax]

This portion of the "leaked" email has not been discussed so far in this thread, and to me it is by far the most troubling.

"All capital or other expenditures above a million dollars, or where a set of related expenses may accumulate to a million dollars over the next 12 months, should be considered on hold until explicitly approved by me."

My reading of this is that either Tesla is in deep, deep trouble with cashflow or Musk is going to micromanage the company into the ground. Perhaps both are true.

 

[tpatana]

This portion of the "leaked" email has not been discussed so far in this thread, and to me it is by far the most troubling.

"All capital or other expenditures above a million dollars, or where a set of related expenses may accumulate to a million dollars over the next 12 months, should be considered on hold until explicitly approved by me."

My reading of this is that either Tesla is in deep, deep trouble with cashflow or Musk is going to micromanage the company into the ground. Perhaps both are true.

If the limit was lower, that would be more likely true. At 1 million it might be just that he wants to keep bit more tighter leash on the expenses.