Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tesla fires hundreds from headquarters, factory

mercurynews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 268 posts

Re: Tesla fires hundreds from headquarters, factory

#221

Post by [deleted] »

mcny wrote: post #179
jaimex2 wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Australia and something like this seems very weird, you sometimes take for granted fair work laws till you see what happens in countries without them.

When I read about pip, I keep going back to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11299310 I think even if we had regulations and requirements like that in the US, it would quickly devolve into a charade. Basically, a six month pip would be the same as a six month notice with the option to fire you any time anyway.

[deleted]

Re: Tesla fires hundreds from headquarters, factory

#222

Post by anonymousab »

briandear wrote: post #139
koevet wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not for Germany only. The majority of EU contries have similar benefits guaranteed by the law.

I always wondered why laws are needed to require benefits. Seems like working for someone is a consensual choice that ought be regulated by the free market itself. Other than physical safety regulations, seems like the rest of it is government overreach. It’s also weird to me that a “contract” covers “workers” rather than a contact negotiated by each worker. Seems rather Marxist to me to consider workers as interchan…

Because the power dynamic is asymmetric.

That said, tools like collective bargaining and unionization can bring it closer to the market ideal - workers acknowledging and taking advantage of their importance to the business to the same extent as the employer does.

In practice, many external if not anti-free-market factors have made that grouping harder to do.

Re: Tesla fires hundreds from headquarters, factory

#223

Post by noitsnot »

staunch wrote: post #220
noitsnot wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From Wikipedia, he was the CEO after the merger who decided to shut down online banking and focus solely on PayPal. It sounds like he had a lot to do with it.

It wasn't even a choice. X.com was a failure and PayPal was taking off. Ultimately, this kind of decision is up to the board anyway, not the CEO.

...

Re: Tesla fires hundreds from headquarters, factory

#224

Post by staunch »

noitsnot wrote: post #223
staunch wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wasn't even a choice. X.com was a failure and PayPal was taking off. Ultimately, this kind of decision is up to the board anyway, not the CEO.

...

Maybe quote the part of the article that makes you think that?

They created and launched PayPal, and it took off (i.e. got traction on eBay), before the X.com merger.

> 1999–2000 December–February Customer focus shift Confinity identifies eBay as a promising area to acquire users, because of the high concentration of buyers and sellers and the absence of any standard payment system for them to use.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_PayPal

Re: Tesla fires hundreds from headquarters, factory

#225

Post by ksec »

jaimex2 wrote: post #166
koevet wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, in Switzerland, for instance, a company is required to offer "job relocation" services for employees that have been working for the company for some years (I'm not sure how many exactly). These services (re-teach how to write a CV, how to prepare yourself for an interview, etc.) cost between 10K and 14K CHF per employee.

I'm in Australia and something like this seems very weird, you sometimes take for granted fair work laws till you see what happens in countries without them.

Well Basically every Commonwealth Countries and Countries inside EU, or to put it another way, the difference between the World and US.

Re: Tesla fires hundreds from headquarters, factory

#226

Post by noitsnot »

staunch wrote: post #224
noitsnot wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...

Maybe quote the part of the article that makes you think that? They created and launched PayPal, and it took off (i.e. got traction on eBay), before the X.com merger. > 1999–2000 December–February Customer focus shift Confinity identifies eBay as a promising area to acquire users, because of the high concentration of buyers and sellers and the absence of any standard payment system for them to use. https://en.wikiped…

You're right.

Re: Tesla fires hundreds from headquarters, factory

#227

Post by [deleted] »

dmitriid wrote: post #219
kryptiskt wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, this is the case where you get a new job, so that doesn't apply.

The three-month notice period is mandatory, because: - if the employee leaves, it benefits the business: -- the employee has the time to hand over their work -- the employer has time to look for and find a replacement, or prepare for work without the employee - if the employee is fired, it benefits the employee: -- they have the time to look for a new job -- they continue working, receiving salary, and don't have to…

[deleted]

Re: Tesla fires hundreds from headquarters, factory

#228

Post by Animats »

sien wrote: post #59
Animats wrote: post #48

High-level executives at Tesla are bailing out. Back when Musk announced his overoptimistic production schedule for the Model 3, his two top production executives quit.[1] Nine more high-level executives have left so far this year.[2] [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-04/two-tesla... [2] https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2017/08/02/tesla-ts...

That's really interesting. The Economist ran a story earlier about how aggressive Musk's finances are and how there was weird finance going on and that Musk was simultaneously trying to keep things afloat, keep on a super aggressive schedule and keep control. https://www.economist.com/news/business/21709061-entrepreneu... Perhaps the wheels are starting to come off. Even if they do, it's been amazing what has been ac…

Space-X has the advantage of competing with high-cost producers. Tesla is trying to move downmarket, where they have to compete with Chevy. Tesla should be able to make a good car. The question is whether they can make money on the Model 3.

In reality, Tesla's pricing strategy is to charge $50K-$60K for the Model 3.[1] This is BMW / Mercedes-Benz territory.

[1] https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/06/surprise-the-real-...

Re: Tesla fires hundreds from headquarters, factory

#229

Post by jfoster »

rqs wrote: post #145
alphaalpha101 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If someone is disruptive or negative, then you should get rid of them immediately.

Disruptive maybe, but negative? Some people became negative because they saw problems they can't resolve by themselves. Maybe don't fire this kind of people? But, well, it seems some companies just don't care.

The problem is that negativity goes nowhere. There's nothing special about raising a problem until you have a realistic proposal about how to address it either fully or partially.

Re: Tesla fires hundreds from headquarters, factory

#230

Post by dennisgorelik »

dmode wrote: post #56
viraptor wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know if the severance was based on time worked so far, or 2 weeks for everybody? But yeah, this is terrible. If you don't expect you're going to be fired for bad performance, that's a company's failure, not yours.

He worked for 2 years. I am not sure what severance is based on. Also, with this article, Tesla pretty much trashed every employee they fired by publicly saying they are bad performers. Imagine finding a job now that you have been labelled a poor performer

They are bad performers for Tesla. That does not mean they are bad performers for other companies. The acceptance threshold at Tesla could be at a very different level.
Post reply on HN