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Tesla staffer who worked for 5 years at company laid off: ‘Shifts were long, slept in my car’

Tesla layoffs: Working as an employee-a production supervisor at Tesla- was "really hard" as he had to sometimes work for more than 12 hours, he said.

Published on: May 28, 2024, 10:53:10 IST
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A Tesla staffer, who worked at the Elon Musk company for five years, said that he was in disbelief after being laid off. Working as an employee-a production supervisor at Tesla- was "really hard" as he had to sometimes work for more than 12 hours, he said.

Tesla layoffs: Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk gets in a Tesla car as he leaves a hotel in Beijing, China. (Reuters)
Tesla layoffs: Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk gets in a Tesla car as he leaves a hotel in Beijing, China. (Reuters)

Talking to Business Insider, he said, “I worked really hard while I was at Tesla and wanted to be as efficient and productive as possible. My shifts at Tesla were long, normally lasting around 12 hours. As I was working a salaried job, I sometimes needed to stay even longer to get things done.”

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He even decided to sleep inside his car to reduce travel time in 2021, he said.

“I just felt like I needed more time to sleep — the job felt like being an industrial athlete because we were constantly moving. I needed more rest to be productive, efficient, and friendly at work,” he shared.

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"I decided it would be easier to stay at the factory and cut out my hour-and-a-half commute. My coworkers were surprised when I told them I was sleeping in my car - it definitely turned heads as it wasn't normalized in the culture," he added.

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Losing his job at Tesla taught him to pivot quickly in life as he said, "You can't dwell on things or complain because that doesn't get you anywhere. When I found out I'd been laid off, it felt like a grief moment. I was in disbelief."

"As I sat in my car outside the factory, it began to settle in. It hit me that I'd spent five years here, bonding with coworkers and camping in this parking lot," he said.

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