6 ms·

I get the feeling this was already planned. Freemont doesn't have much spare land to increase manufacturing capacity. California has to be more expensive (Labor

I get the feeling this was already planned. Freemont doesn't have much spare land to increase manufacturing capacity. California has to be more expensive (Labor, Regulations) than manufacturing in Texas. Even if you'd need to fly your R&D team between Texas and California, you'd still be saving money

justin66 6y ago
In some vague "regulations" way, possibly, but the published hourly rates of Tesla Fremont workers are not especially high. (I just googled the average as being less than twenty dollars, which can't possibly be right, but I do remember the figure being low by autoworker standards) The thought that they might pay even less in Texas is depressing.
- lukevp 6y ago
  $20/hr for blue collar work in a lot of Texas is very high. For example, Amazon was paying $12/hr in the San Marcos facility until they raised wages recently, and that was considered decent pay. $8-10/hr is pretty common for unskilled labor here. We have a lot of tech and oil and gas that influences the average income but tons of people here are working for way less than $20/hr.
  - lukevp 6y ago
    Indeed shows assembler salary at Toyota San Antonio at $12.89 https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Toyota/salaries/assembler/San-Antonio-TX https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Toyota/salaries/assembler/San-Ant...
  - bdcravens 6y ago
    Yeah, $10-15/hour for a lot of non-skilled labor or even low-qualification desk jobs is typical in the Houston area. The average home price here is 1/13th that of Fremont, to say nothing of areas outside of major cities.
- Melting_Harps 6y ago
  > I just googled the average as being less than twenty dollars, which can't possibly be right, It's right. You don't go to Tesla to make tons of money or have a good work-Life balance, you're there to contribute to a passion project with like minded individuals with certain known sunk opportunity-costs: this includes salary. (The engineering and software people are paid well, or so I'm told, but most of the bulk is on the factory side.) In terms of compensation its not great, but at least they're honest about it; you do get somewhat generous stock options if you stay/last there for over a year, really good health care plans, and depending on the department all the hours you could possibly want or handle. I knew going in my schedule would be 60+ hours, I just didn't see it happening within a swing-shift model so had to decline the offer. Job security, however, is not exactly a given either. Mass layoffs have been a regular occurrence, one occured right after my first interview process and many have sought to unionize so its a contentious affair even to this day, as Germany ended up getting a Union due to strict EU/DE Auto Union pressure. > The thought that they might pay even less in Texas is depressing. Why? Cost of living differs quite a bit in the US. While in Texas in February for my SpaceX interview I knew I was going to have to go down in salary in relation to my current role, but I was assured by several locals that my salary estimates could net a 2-3 bedroom in town with no problem, whereas I have roommates back home. Besides, where else would I want to be than at the Factory where feeling bad about salary figures feels entirely moot and misses the entire point of why you go to these places? > I get the feeling this was already planned. Freemont doesn't have much spare land to increase manufacturing capacity. It was, in February Elon was already teasing about where the new Giga factory was to be located, with Texas being mentioned. Fremont factory has been over capacity even before 3's assembly line change(s) and optimization. I don't if you can find it anymore but there were pictures of Employee parking being the most chaotic thing ever, cars taking every square inch. The supply chain guys were all pretty sore about those days, but Tesla started bussing people in from the Woodland Park building and many people just commuted that way. As 3's numbers started to get rolling things got more and more creative, and they ended up getting more parking/staging space near the area. That much was documented [1], and people even commissioned drone pilots to do regular fly-overs over the Factory as more and more progress was being made. I haven't looked, but I wonder if people are that excited about Y. 1: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/found-a-lot-of-model-3s-in-a-tesla-lot-pictures-inside.104317/page-42 https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/found-a-lot-of-model...

justin66 6y ago

In some vague "regulations" way, possibly, but the published hourly rates of Tesla Fremont workers are not especially high. (I just googled the average as being less than twenty dollars, which can't possibly be right, but I do remember the figure being low by autoworker standards) The thought that they might pay even less in Texas is depressing.

lukevp 6y ago
$20/hr for blue collar work in a lot of Texas is very high. For example, Amazon was paying $12/hr in the San Marcos facility until they raised wages recently, and that was considered decent pay. $8-10/hr is pretty common for unskilled labor here. We have a lot of tech and oil and gas that influences the average income but tons of people here are working for way less than $20/hr.
- lukevp 6y ago
  Indeed shows assembler salary at Toyota San Antonio at $12.89 https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Toyota/salaries/assembler/San-Antonio-TX https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Toyota/salaries/assembler/San-Ant...
- bdcravens 6y ago
  Yeah, $10-15/hour for a lot of non-skilled labor or even low-qualification desk jobs is typical in the Houston area. The average home price here is 1/13th that of Fremont, to say nothing of areas outside of major cities.
Melting_Harps 6y ago
> I just googled the average as being less than twenty dollars, which can't possibly be right, It's right. You don't go to Tesla to make tons of money or have a good work-Life balance, you're there to contribute to a passion project with like minded individuals with certain known sunk opportunity-costs: this includes salary. (The engineering and software people are paid well, or so I'm told, but most of the bulk is on the factory side.) In terms of compensation its not great, but at least they're honest about it; you do get somewhat generous stock options if you stay/last there for over a year, really good health care plans, and depending on the department all the hours you could possibly want or handle. I knew going in my schedule would be 60+ hours, I just didn't see it happening within a swing-shift model so had to decline the offer. Job security, however, is not exactly a given either. Mass layoffs have been a regular occurrence, one occured right after my first interview process and many have sought to unionize so its a contentious affair even to this day, as Germany ended up getting a Union due to strict EU/DE Auto Union pressure. > The thought that they might pay even less in Texas is depressing. Why? Cost of living differs quite a bit in the US. While in Texas in February for my SpaceX interview I knew I was going to have to go down in salary in relation to my current role, but I was assured by several locals that my salary estimates could net a 2-3 bedroom in town with no problem, whereas I have roommates back home. Besides, where else would I want to be than at the Factory where feeling bad about salary figures feels entirely moot and misses the entire point of why you go to these places? > I get the feeling this was already planned. Freemont doesn't have much spare land to increase manufacturing capacity. It was, in February Elon was already teasing about where the new Giga factory was to be located, with Texas being mentioned. Fremont factory has been over capacity even before 3's assembly line change(s) and optimization. I don't if you can find it anymore but there were pictures of Employee parking being the most chaotic thing ever, cars taking every square inch. The supply chain guys were all pretty sore about those days, but Tesla started bussing people in from the Woodland Park building and many people just commuted that way. As 3's numbers started to get rolling things got more and more creative, and they ended up getting more parking/staging space near the area. That much was documented [1], and people even commissioned drone pilots to do regular fly-overs over the Factory as more and more progress was being made. I haven't looked, but I wonder if people are that excited about Y. 1: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/found-a-lot-of-model-3s-in-a-tesla-lot-pictures-inside.104317/page-42 https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/found-a-lot-of-model...