Entire Supercharging Team Fired?

News yesterday is that the entire 500+ person word-wide SC team has been let go. That is alarming. Why would Elon sack the execs and all the employees of this important part of Tesla's business? Could Tesla be selling the SC network off to a third party? Opinions? Other theories?

 

[FatFalcon]

Yesterday I got a 'bad' supercharger which was maxing out at 35kw (preconditioned, low SoC). Switched to a different supercharger and the rate shot up to max. I expect this behavior from CCS but this had never happened to me on a supercharger, ever. Elon fires the supercharger team and two weeks later this? Makes me very nervous.

 

[swaltner]

Yesterday I got a 'bad' supercharger which was maxing out at 35kw (preconditioned, low SoC). Switched to a different supercharger and the rate shot up to max. I expect this behavior from CCS but this had never happened to me on a supercharger, ever. Elon fires the supercharger team and two weeks later this? Makes me very nervous.

That happens every once in a while. On my eclipse trip in April, I came across one that did the same. Even had a nice person walk up to me as I was getting out of the car and say they experienced the same thing and let me know I might need to move my car. I did see the same, so I moved. As I was getting ready to leave another car was pulling into the same stall, so I gave them the same warning. A few more slow charging sessions like that, and I assume that Tesla would mark the specific stall as "reduced service" in the navigation screen.

I wouldn't read too much into the timing of your first encounter of a slow charging session happening so soon after the layoffs.

 

[MontyFloyd]

A Tesla supplier says it's still in limbo 2 weeks after Elon Musk fired the entire Supercharger team

Elon Musk abruptly fired the team running Tesla's electric vehicle charging business at the end of April.

www.businessinsider.com

if not posted already

 

[JWLV]

The man baby had a tantrum because Ms. Tinucci did not want to let go any more people from her team so he fired everybody.

It's like Dr. Evil who kills his subordinates when he doesn't get what he wants. And then he thinks they're all idiots and he's the smart one.

 

[JWLV]

So where/what do you consider a trusted news source?

There's a difference between news and news shows. Make sure you know the difference. News shows often have the hosts give their opinion and their own spin on news items. When it's just news, they just report the news and it is reliable. But news shows are not reliable sources of news. All the major networks have both news and news shows.

 

[QtownTaxiGreg]

The best and brightest are getting new jobs. Good luck rehiring them!

What flustercluck of headless chickens are running the S.C now? Someone is obviously having a crack but only a few of the in progress sites are back with comms.

News c/o the business insider link back up the page.

 

[CyberGus]

The man baby had a tantrum because Ms. Tinucci did not want to let go any more people from her team so he fired everybody.

It's like Dr. Evil who kills his subordinates when he doesn't get what he wants. And then he thinks they're all idiots and he's the smart one.

 

[JWLV]

The best and brightest are getting new jobs. Good luck rehiring them!

What flustercluck of headless chickens are running the S.C now? Someone is obviously having a crack but only a few of the in progress sites are back with comms.

News c/o the business insider link back up the page.

The ones that do get re-hired will likely be working/doing their job as if nothing happened. But hidden underneath they will be looking for something better elsewhere. You don't fk with someone's job and expect business as usual. They will take it personally.

 

[MontyFloyd]

The ones that do get re-hired will likely be working/doing their job as if nothing happened. But hidden underneath they will be looking for something better elsewhere. You don't fk with someone's job and expect business as usual. They will take it personally.

Weeeell, they were not fired directly, not due to personal performance, but yes there will be clear distrust in management, especially Elon, and loss of moral.

 

[JWLV]

Weeeell, they were not fired directly, not due to personal performance, but yes there will be clear distrust in management, especially Elon, and loss of moral.

That's why it's even worse. If someone was fired for poor performance or even just below excellent performance, it might be perceived a little better. But this is more like a mean kid with a magnifying glass over an ant hill. Just destroy people's livelihoods with no reason except for Elon being a mean kid. Even those who were not affected will remember this, whether they are an excellent employee or a subpar employee. Now they know they can be fired on a whim. When you have employees that are in fear of this, they would not want to stick around too long and always searching for something more secure. And even if they do stay long term, they will not give their 100% to the job. Elon will be viewed as a billionaire who doesn't care and behaves erratically. If you're a Star Trek fan, I would say Elon is "no longer fit for duty based on the fact that he has been emotionally compromised."

Tesla is already known for poor quality control and bad customer service. A couple more nails will likely seal the coffin that their PR department can't fix. Oh wait, they don't have a PR deparment. I predict Elon will be ousted sooner or later before he destroys the company from within.

 

[FatFalcon]

That's why it's even worse. If someone was fired for poor performance or even just below excellent performance, it might be perceived a little better. But this is more like a mean kid with a magnifying glass over an ant hill. Just destroy people's livelihoods with no reason except for Elon being a mean kid. Even those who were not affected will remember this, whether they are an excellent employee or a subpar employee. Now they know they can be fired on a whim. When you have employees that are in fear of this, they would not want to stick around too long and always searching for something more secure. And even if they do stay long term, they will not give their 100% to the job. Elon will be viewed as a billionaire who doesn't care and behaves erratically. If you're a Star Trek fan, I would say Elon is "no longer fit for duty based on the fact that he has been emotionally compromised."

Tesla is already known for poor quality control and bad customer service. A couple more nails will likely seal the coffin that their PR department can't fix. Oh wait, they don't have a PR deparment. I predict Elon will be ousted sooner or later before he destroys the company from within.

100%!

I have never been laid off but I have been through multiple layoffs. If layoffs are performance based it still sucks, but at least those who remain know that if they keep working hard, or work even harder, they will be OK.

When layoffs appear random, and extremely successful people/teams are being fired, morale for those who remain is far, far worse. What is the point of being 'hardcore' you could be gone tomorrow anyway?

 

[zoomer0056]

those who remain know that if they keep working hard, or work even harder, they will be OK

Nope ... it all depends on the goals of the company. One could be a great employee and a wonderful team player, but none of that matters one tiny bit if the position elimination is part of the goal.

 

[Cal1]

Did anyone report why this team needed to be let go? Seems like their role had nothing to do with underperforming areas of the company and still needed in their full capacity. Especially given the additional task of adding/changing stations to accommodate all of the new non Tesla users.

I don't think you'd fire a group just to say it was an across the board cut.

 

[wws]

Nope ... it all depends on the goals of the company. One could be a great employee and a wonderful team player, but none of that matters one tiny bit if the position elimination is part of the goal.

Yup. Layoffs can be brutal. It often doesn't matter who you are. Just where you are positioned on an org chart. I witnessed it several times in my career in tech.

 

[mborkow]

100%!

I have never been laid off but I have been through multiple layoffs. If layoffs are performance based it still sucks, but at least those who remain know that if they keep working hard, or work even harder, they will be OK.

When layoffs appear random, and extremely successful people/teams are being fired, morale for those who remain is far, far worse. What is the point of being 'hardcore' you could be gone tomorrow anyway?

By definition, layoffs can’t be performance based. A layoff is a company eliminating a position because of a mistake it made in staffing. If it’s performance based, that’s being fired. Companies should never couch termination due to performance as layoffs.

 

[Piwacet]

Did anyone report why this team needed to be let go? Seems like their role had nothing to do with underperforming areas of the company and still needed in their full capacity. Especially given the additional task of adding/changing stations to accommodate all of the new non Tesla users.

As best as I can tell, we don't really have any idea. There's an Electrek article citing anonymous sources (I believe employees without firsthand knowledge) that Musk asked for a cut to the supercharger team that the head of that team, Rebecca Tinucci, felt was too large, and then to "make an example" he fired her and her entire team so other managers would take implementing these cuts more seriously. I don't follow the Electrek website but I don't believe it's known to be a great source of accurate information.

There's also a reuters article that says something similar, but omits the "make an example" part. The "sources" for that article are third hand sources - employees who heard the story from managers who themselves were not present for the actual events.

Then it seems other websites keep echoing these stories, and portray them as more and more true as the echoing continues, but I've never seen any good firsthand info on this. Just websites citing other websites.

Does anyone else know anything more? I too would really like to know why this happened.

 

[gearchruncher]

I don't follow the Electrek website but I don't believe it's known to be a great source of accurate information.

Electrek was not the original source, and there has been zero denial that the email is real over the last month.

Does anyone else know anything more? I too would really like to know why this happened.

Yes, there are 42 pages of this story arc. There really has been zero pushback that the simple story is this:
Elon told Tinucci to lay off ~20% of her staff.
She pushed back at around ~15%.
Elon told her that it's either 20% or everyone.
She said no, so he fired everyone to send a message.
The email leaks, and Elon tweets "don't worry, critical sites will still be built"
There are hundreds of news articles about the supercharger team being let go and how surprising it is for Tesla to do so.
Elon tweets "We're still spending $500M this year on superchargers"
A few days later, Elon started re-hiring some of the laid off people.

That's it. After that, it's up to your own personal opinion if this is the work of a genius CEO with strong plans, of if this is the work of someone that values unquestioning loyalty more than strong management or business performance, and that's why this thread is 40 pages long.

 

[Piwacet]

Thanks gearchruncher for the information. Letting go of the supercharger team seems bananas to me personally.

 

[xilex]

Haven't seen any new permitted stations in US for a while

 

[JWLV]

Elon tweets "We're still spending $500M this year on superchargers"

It was reported that $500M is about 1/3 of their original plans for 2024. This estimate not been confirmed.