Fired Tesla staff continue to praise the company and Elon Musk

In context: Being laid off from a job is a nightmare scenario for most people, but in the case of Tesla, it seems some fired staff hold no anger towards CEO Elon Musk—they’re just grateful for the experience of working there.

It’s been over a month since Musk sent emails to Tesla executives instructing them to pause all hiring worldwide and cut employee numbers by 10%. He since clarified that the figure represents salaried workers only, while the number of hourly employees will increase. However, this still means around 3.5% of Tesla’s total workforce is being laid off, an amount he said is “not super material.”

Some of those who found themselves without a job launched a lawsuit against Tesla, claiming the lack of a 60-day notice period violated federal laws. But it appears not all those who have been let go are upset.

Insider discovered several LinkedIn posts from fired Tesla employees praising their time at the company. One former worker at the autopilot division that recently saw 200 people let go and an entire San Mateo, California, office closed wrote: “During the past year and a half, I worked for a company where I genuinely believed in what we were doing. I felt a great sense of pride to work on a project that marks the beginning of future transportation and a full sense of pride in knowing we were the first.”

An engineer from the same division working on the navigation system was equally appreciative. They said working on the nav tools was one of their greatest achievements, adding that they wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

Plenty of other posts used similar language, praising both Tesla and former colleagues. “Some of us (the 10%) might be mad or frustrated, but I’m not. I’m thankful I was part of it, got to learn so many new things and I wish all of my former colleagues the best (no matter what),” wrote one person who joined Tesla in 2016.

Not everyone had such positive things to say about Tesla, though. A former XR developer said there were “a lot of systemic issues at play here.”

In other Tesla news, a recent report claimed that following Elon Musk’s demand for all staff to return to the office, many of those who returned to the Fremont, California, plant found there weren’t enough desks or parking spaces. The EV giant also revealed that its shipments fell 18% in Q2 due to Covid shutdowns in China and supply issues.

Masthead: Craig Adderley; center: Martin Geiger