4 ms·

SpaceX, at least in the Seattle office, is widely known as a ruthless, stressful workplace with high turnover. I'm not surprised at all that Musks' other ventu

SpaceX, at least in the Seattle office, is widely known as a ruthless, stressful workplace with high turnover. I'm not surprised at all that Musks' other ventures are similar.

agumonkey 9y ago
But somehow the link between high stress and racism is thin.
- minitel 9y ago
  It's simple. If you aren't White, and someone makes you stressed out or unhappy you can always accuse them of racism as a way of lashing out or getting some recompense. Similar thing works for women, but racism has much more stigma than sexism. I honestly don't blame people who try to get while the getting is good (by using their "oppression" to their advantage). You can thank popular culture's dramatic playing up of racial tensions over the past century for this crappy situation. In the end I think episodes like this will cement in our minds the truth that diversity is NOT a strength. Never was. Never will be. No matter how much we indulge in feel good "chicken soup for the soul" type narratives about it working out in some cherry picked instances.
hughes 9y ago
What does that have to do with racism?
- cirgue 9y ago
  High stress, ultra-competitive workplace culture brings out the worst in people. This is not exactly a secret.
  - randyrand 9y ago
    On top of that, often people say racist words not because they really care about skin color, but because its just an easy way to piss people off when they're mad and looking to piss people off. Whether or not that doesn't count as racism is up for debate. But its similar to the motivations behind trolling, which is more or less just to stir shit up.
    - evanlivingston 9y ago
      I don't think whether that counts for racism is up for debate.
      - SamReidHughes 9y ago
        A better example is how trash talk at the line of scrimmage used to be done in the NFL.
        evanlivingston 9y ago
        I would hope NFL game tactics wouldn't be used as a analogies for ethics.
        SamReidHughes 9y ago
        It's not an analogy. It's a different example where they aren't mad while trying to get in somebody's head.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - randyrand 9y ago
        I disagree. Therefore its up for debate and you're wrong =) I think to be a racist you actually need to dislike people for their race. Motivation matters. Saying something racially mean only because you want to make them upset and not because you actually care about their race is not racist. Why? Because you don't actually dislike them for their race.
  - agumonkey 9y ago
    It's not a secret but you'd have to be seriously run down to start ranting racial slur at coworkers you have issues with. Maybe that's really just how sressful the company is .. but damn that would be crazy.
    - cirgue 9y ago
      I mean, it seems like there are definitely some racist assholes working at Tesla just like everywhere else. The difference between those people 'getting it' and 'not getting it' is the set of norms, customs, and values of the people around them.
bsaul 9y ago
wonder how you can combine high turnover with rocket science disruption. There's a limited supply of people qualified enough to work in that company, so you would think that they make everything possible to keep them.
- bitL 9y ago
  Top positions/teams that actually matter for rockets have surely low turnover; the non-essential roles like internal software developer for moving a crane from point A to point B are likely the ones where most people won't last long.
  - kamaal 9y ago
    Not surprising. If you are expected to do a lot of work for below or market standard pay, you are likely to quit soon.
oceanghost 9y ago
SpaceX sent me a rejection letter. Difficulty level? I didn't apply. Another time they called me for a very specialized position, I told them, "I'm not qualified for this." The recruiter assured me it wouldn't be a problem. I go through the rigamarole and a couple days later the same guy calls me back to tell me I'm not qualified. Weird. People.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  Having gone through their HR pipeline, it seems highly dysfunctional. Not surprised by your experience.
  - eropple 9y ago
    Same here. My bet is that their KPIs are top-of-the-funnel, not bottom.
  - nooron 9y ago
    I got offered a job there. Then another HR employee called and said wait, they needed to find out my SAT/ACT scores before they could actually offer me the job. I had most of a master's degree at that point. I still got the offer, but it was really strange.

SpaceX, at least in the Seattle office, is widely known as a ruthless, stressful workplace with high turnover. I'm not surprised at all that Musks' other ventures are similar.

agumonkey 9y ago

But somehow the link between high stress and racism is thin.

minitel 9y ago
It's simple. If you aren't White, and someone makes you stressed out or unhappy you can always accuse them of racism as a way of lashing out or getting some recompense. Similar thing works for women, but racism has much more stigma than sexism. I honestly don't blame people who try to get while the getting is good (by using their "oppression" to their advantage). You can thank popular culture's dramatic playing up of racial tensions over the past century for this crappy situation. In the end I think episodes like this will cement in our minds the truth that diversity is NOT a strength. Never was. Never will be. No matter how much we indulge in feel good "chicken soup for the soul" type narratives about it working out in some cherry picked instances.

hughes 9y ago

What does that have to do with racism?

cirgue 9y ago
High stress, ultra-competitive workplace culture brings out the worst in people. This is not exactly a secret.
- randyrand 9y ago
  On top of that, often people say racist words not because they really care about skin color, but because its just an easy way to piss people off when they're mad and looking to piss people off. Whether or not that doesn't count as racism is up for debate. But its similar to the motivations behind trolling, which is more or less just to stir shit up.
  - evanlivingston 9y ago
    I don't think whether that counts for racism is up for debate.
    - SamReidHughes 9y ago
      A better example is how trash talk at the line of scrimmage used to be done in the NFL.
      - evanlivingston 9y ago
        I would hope NFL game tactics wouldn't be used as a analogies for ethics.
        SamReidHughes 9y ago
        It's not an analogy. It's a different example where they aren't mad while trying to get in somebody's head.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - randyrand 9y ago
      I disagree. Therefore its up for debate and you're wrong =) I think to be a racist you actually need to dislike people for their race. Motivation matters. Saying something racially mean only because you want to make them upset and not because you actually care about their race is not racist. Why? Because you don't actually dislike them for their race.
- agumonkey 9y ago
  It's not a secret but you'd have to be seriously run down to start ranting racial slur at coworkers you have issues with. Maybe that's really just how sressful the company is .. but damn that would be crazy.
  - cirgue 9y ago
    I mean, it seems like there are definitely some racist assholes working at Tesla just like everywhere else. The difference between those people 'getting it' and 'not getting it' is the set of norms, customs, and values of the people around them.

bsaul 9y ago

wonder how you can combine high turnover with rocket science disruption. There's a limited supply of people qualified enough to work in that company, so you would think that they make everything possible to keep them.

bitL 9y ago
Top positions/teams that actually matter for rockets have surely low turnover; the non-essential roles like internal software developer for moving a crane from point A to point B are likely the ones where most people won't last long.
- kamaal 9y ago
  Not surprising. If you are expected to do a lot of work for below or market standard pay, you are likely to quit soon.

oceanghost 9y ago

SpaceX sent me a rejection letter. Difficulty level? I didn't apply. Another time they called me for a very specialized position, I told them, "I'm not qualified for this." The recruiter assured me it wouldn't be a problem. I go through the rigamarole and a couple days later the same guy calls me back to tell me I'm not qualified. Weird. People.

toomuchtodo 9y ago
Having gone through their HR pipeline, it seems highly dysfunctional. Not surprised by your experience.
- eropple 9y ago
  Same here. My bet is that their KPIs are top-of-the-funnel, not bottom.
- nooron 9y ago
  I got offered a job there. Then another HR employee called and said wait, they needed to find out my SAT/ACT scores before they could actually offer me the job. I had most of a master's degree at that point. I still got the offer, but it was really strange.