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I'm a huge Musk/Tesla fan (maybe even a fanboy), but the idea of volunteering so Elon can earn his $55Bn bonus is unnerving to say the least.

neaden 9y ago
Right. Promise a company wide bonus if they meet targets, don't tell them to prove the haters wrong.
bitumen 9y ago
It’s a cult, inside and out. People believe because they want to believe, and because they have faith in Elon Musk. I don’t hate Tesla, and SpaceX is downright exciting, but I also have no particular faith in Elon Musk. Tesla in particular is in some pretty hot financial water with no obvious way out. The whole Hyperloop thing is disappointing to see taken seriously, and it’s hard to ignore just how rich Musk gets while he works peons to the bone. Now an “us vs them” spiel? Cult.
- metabagel 9y ago
  There is an obvious way out - produce a lot of Model 3's in 2018.
  - bitumen 9y ago
    They’re already near a 50% recall rate on their cars, so upping production significantly seems like a real challenge.
- decacorn 9y ago
  dont understand how you can believe in spacex/tesla and not musk. thats a true oxymoron. he created both.
sampo 9y ago
The Bloomberg article is written in a very confusing manner (journalists these days) but I understood it means they are asking people to volunteer to switch from the S and X production lines to the Model 3 production line. Not to volunteer to work without salary. Perhaps I understood the article wrong?
- jandrese 9y ago
  That's how I read it. They're shutting down the S and X production lines that are ahead of schedule to move people over to the 3 assembly line to meet the delivery target.
- mohaine 9y ago
  The article is pretty clear the he asked employees to volunteer in a leaked internal memo. Usually employees are already on the payroll. The first line is: "Tesla Inc. exhorted its factory workers ..."
- refurb 9y ago
  Sounds like the S and X lines are shut down and those employees will not get paid (have to take vacation or unpaid time off) unless they volunteer for the Model 3 line. My guess is that this email was intentionally leaked to create buzz.
  - melling 9y ago
    “Tesla will suspend Model S and Model X production Thursday and Friday because it’s ahead of target on building those this quarter,” They are shutting down the line for 2 days to focus on the Model 3 because they are so far behind. They can use some of the people on the Model 3 but 9 women can’t make a baby in a month. Some people will be able to “volunteer” to work and they’ll get paid.
- dwighttk 9y ago
  well, the alternative (apparently) to switching is not working and only getting paid if you have paid vacation.
jandrese 9y ago
I wonder how motivating it would be if he said "Hit the target and I'll split $50B of the bonus equally among everybody who puts in extra time to make it happen." According to Google Tesla has about 37,000 employees, so that would work out to a bonus of $1.35 million per assembly line employee, and he still gets to keep a staggering $5 billion of the bonus. It would make ordinary Christmas bonuses look like chopped liver.
- Someone1234 9y ago
  I know it is equity, but if they really did that, and if employees could cash it in immediately then they'd all quit because many could likely retire modestly on $1.35M. But I do agree with the concept, particularly if the equity paid out over ten years or more.
  - jandrese 9y ago
    I figure it would probably be paid out in stock options that would need to vest over time. Sort of like working for a startup that has a big IPO. If you're a youngish guy $1.35M over 50-70 years is only around $35k/year even if you do invest it wisely and luck out. And $35k/year won't be worth as much with inflation constantly eating away at it. Hell, just the taxes and paying off your mortgage on your California home will probably eat it up. Even properly invested it's close to poverty level income. Sure some people will move out to Montana and live out their dream of being Grizzly Adams for the rest of their life, but I thing more would stay and keep working that you might expect.
    - vkou 9y ago
      There are tens of millions of people on the United States who live on less then $35k/year. For most people, this is a fortune.
kbenson 9y ago
In a pair of internal memos last week, the heads of engineering and production spelled out measures to free up workers for the Model 3 line and challenged them to reach production goals. My interpretation of that is that they've eased need for employees in some other departments, and are asking for volunteers to shift to the production line temporarily, not volunteering to work more hours for free or something (I'm sure employees on the line are probably allowed encouraged to work overtime as well at this stage). The entire presentation of this is odd, and to me just points towards more people trying to manipulate the market. Having a CEO, or even just a manager, send out a memo that appears to me to be a combined pop-talk and solicitation for employees to shift to the line (instead of you know, just reassigning them, because you can as the employer) doesn't seem out of the ordinary to me at all. All this positive/negative Tesla coverage the last few months is just annoying. Beyond the raw numbers of what they are delivering each week and how close they are to their goal, and how late they are in achieving it, the rest is just spin.
- SeanBoocock 9y ago
  The end of the article suggests that employees who don't "volunteer" to work on the Model 3 after the X/S lines have been paused will have to use PTO or otherwise take unpaid vacation.
  - jandrese 9y ago
    Which seems like a bit of a "no duh". Obviously you can't keep working on the same production line if it is currently shut down. It sounds like the Model 3 folks could use some extra hands so it shouldn't be that hard to find something to do.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Nition 9y ago
Feels like these top-level guys think everyone else in the company is as passionate about the product as them, without thinking about the fact that other people in the company don't benefit from the product as much as them. A cash bonus would certainly help.
melling 9y ago
They are volunteering from the other production lines. The Model S and Model X. They probably need some of that veteran skilled labor. He’s simply trying to inspire the troops with a common enemy.

neaden 9y ago

Right. Promise a company wide bonus if they meet targets, don't tell them to prove the haters wrong.

bitumen 9y ago

It’s a cult, inside and out. People believe because they want to believe, and because they have faith in Elon Musk. I don’t hate Tesla, and SpaceX is downright exciting, but I also have no particular faith in Elon Musk. Tesla in particular is in some pretty hot financial water with no obvious way out. The whole Hyperloop thing is disappointing to see taken seriously, and it’s hard to ignore just how rich Musk gets while he works peons to the bone. Now an “us vs them” spiel? Cult.

metabagel 9y ago
There is an obvious way out - produce a lot of Model 3's in 2018.
- bitumen 9y ago
  They’re already near a 50% recall rate on their cars, so upping production significantly seems like a real challenge.
decacorn 9y ago
dont understand how you can believe in spacex/tesla and not musk. thats a true oxymoron. he created both.

sampo 9y ago

The Bloomberg article is written in a very confusing manner (journalists these days) but I understood it means they are asking people to volunteer to switch from the S and X production lines to the Model 3 production line. Not to volunteer to work without salary. Perhaps I understood the article wrong?

jandrese 9y ago
That's how I read it. They're shutting down the S and X production lines that are ahead of schedule to move people over to the 3 assembly line to meet the delivery target.
mohaine 9y ago
The article is pretty clear the he asked employees to volunteer in a leaked internal memo. Usually employees are already on the payroll. The first line is: "Tesla Inc. exhorted its factory workers ..."
refurb 9y ago
Sounds like the S and X lines are shut down and those employees will not get paid (have to take vacation or unpaid time off) unless they volunteer for the Model 3 line. My guess is that this email was intentionally leaked to create buzz.
- melling 9y ago
  “Tesla will suspend Model S and Model X production Thursday and Friday because it’s ahead of target on building those this quarter,” They are shutting down the line for 2 days to focus on the Model 3 because they are so far behind. They can use some of the people on the Model 3 but 9 women can’t make a baby in a month. Some people will be able to “volunteer” to work and they’ll get paid.
dwighttk 9y ago
well, the alternative (apparently) to switching is not working and only getting paid if you have paid vacation.

jandrese 9y ago

I wonder how motivating it would be if he said "Hit the target and I'll split $50B of the bonus equally among everybody who puts in extra time to make it happen." According to Google Tesla has about 37,000 employees, so that would work out to a bonus of $1.35 million per assembly line employee, and he still gets to keep a staggering $5 billion of the bonus. It would make ordinary Christmas bonuses look like chopped liver.

Someone1234 9y ago
I know it is equity, but if they really did that, and if employees could cash it in immediately then they'd all quit because many could likely retire modestly on $1.35M. But I do agree with the concept, particularly if the equity paid out over ten years or more.
- jandrese 9y ago
  I figure it would probably be paid out in stock options that would need to vest over time. Sort of like working for a startup that has a big IPO. If you're a youngish guy $1.35M over 50-70 years is only around $35k/year even if you do invest it wisely and luck out. And $35k/year won't be worth as much with inflation constantly eating away at it. Hell, just the taxes and paying off your mortgage on your California home will probably eat it up. Even properly invested it's close to poverty level income. Sure some people will move out to Montana and live out their dream of being Grizzly Adams for the rest of their life, but I thing more would stay and keep working that you might expect.
  - vkou 9y ago
    There are tens of millions of people on the United States who live on less then $35k/year. For most people, this is a fortune.

kbenson 9y ago

In a pair of internal memos last week, the heads of engineering and production spelled out measures to free up workers for the Model 3 line and challenged them to reach production goals. My interpretation of that is that they've eased need for employees in some other departments, and are asking for volunteers to shift to the production line temporarily, not volunteering to work more hours for free or something (I'm sure employees on the line are probably allowed encouraged to work overtime as well at this stage). The entire presentation of this is odd, and to me just points towards more people trying to manipulate the market. Having a CEO, or even just a manager, send out a memo that appears to me to be a combined pop-talk and solicitation for employees to shift to the line (instead of you know, just reassigning them, because you can as the employer) doesn't seem out of the ordinary to me at all. All this positive/negative Tesla coverage the last few months is just annoying. Beyond the raw numbers of what they are delivering each week and how close they are to their goal, and how late they are in achieving it, the rest is just spin.

SeanBoocock 9y ago
The end of the article suggests that employees who don't "volunteer" to work on the Model 3 after the X/S lines have been paused will have to use PTO or otherwise take unpaid vacation.
- jandrese 9y ago
  Which seems like a bit of a "no duh". Obviously you can't keep working on the same production line if it is currently shut down. It sounds like the Model 3 folks could use some extra hands so it shouldn't be that hard to find something to do.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

Nition 9y ago

Feels like these top-level guys think everyone else in the company is as passionate about the product as them, without thinking about the fact that other people in the company don't benefit from the product as much as them. A cash bonus would certainly help.

melling 9y ago

They are volunteering from the other production lines. The Model S and Model X. They probably need some of that veteran skilled labor. He’s simply trying to inspire the troops with a common enemy.