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Tesla Factory Workers Reveal Pain, Injury and Stress: 'Everything Feels Like the Future But Us' (theguardian.com)
Workers at Tesla's California car factory have been passing out and requiring rides in ambulances, the Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday. The conditions at the factory suggest the lengths the company is going to in order to meet its extremely ambitious production goals, and the tension employees feel between their pride in being part of the company and the stress and exhaustion the company's goals are causing them, according to the report. From the article: Ambulances have been called more than 100 times since 2014 for workers experiencing fainting spells, dizziness, seizures, abnormal breathing and chest pains, according to incident reports obtained by the Guardian. Hundreds more were called for injuries and other medical issues. In a phone interview about the conditions at the factory, which employs about 10,000 workers, the Tesla CEO conceded his workers had been "having a hard time, working long hours, and on hard jobs," but said he cared deeply about their health and wellbeing. His company says its factory safety record has significantly improved over the last year. Musk also said that Tesla should not be compared to major US carmakers and that its market capitalization, now more than $50bn, is unwarranted. "I do believe this market cap is higher than we have any right to deserve," he said, pointing out his company produces just 1% of GM's total output. "We're a money-losing company," Musk added. "This is not some situation where, for example, we are just greedy capitalists who decided to skimp on safety in order to have more profits and dividends and that kind of thing. It's just a question of how much money we lose. And how do we survive? How do we not die and have everyone lose their jobs?" The article also sheds light on the kind of manager Musk is. In early 2016, Musk slept on the factory floor in a sleeping bag "to make it the most painful thing possible. I knew people were having a hard time, working long hours, and on hard jobs. I wanted to work harder than they did, to put even more hours in," he was quoted as saying. "Because that's what I think a manager should do."
Let's call it 120 time. In 3.5 years for 10,000 workers.
How far is that from the normal number of times that people in a modest sized city will call for ambulances?
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
I worked in an Aircraft Depot for the F15 Fighter as a civilian. Many times during periods like the Gulf Wars we would often work 12 hour shifts 7 days a week. They usually tried to limit that to 2 or 3 weeks because eventually it took a toll on people. After two weeks it's like time starts to blur. You make more mistakes and people get very stressed. Several times people almost came to blows on the job. I remember one guy walking down the back of a fighter and he stepped over an air duct and almost went off the side to the concrete floor. I watched helpless as another guy reached up and grabbed his shirt and snatched him back. We all felt energized by the emergency and the overtime was great but I was glad for some time off. Damn I wish I was 30 again. 100 degree summer heat in a hanger climbing over and inside jets. It would kill me now.
People don't want cars that take hours to refill. Stopping for gas is a pain in the ass, and it's quick. It's why hybrid gas sell better. How about swappable batteries standardized for all cars? These folks are sweating for something that won't fly.
-- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
Well, we've had ambulances called to the office complex that I work from probably three times in the last year. If I look at the map of the parking lot there are about 400 numbered parking spaces, so assuming that some workers carpool or use some other form of transportation I'd guess there are around 450 employees.
So, for my workplace for one year is 3/450 = .667%
By contrast Tesla's workplace with your numbers is (120/3.5)/10000 = .343%
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
For a few years I was annoyed about the uniform adoration Mr. Musk was getting on Slashdot and in other circles. Then hit-pieces like this one started appearing...
Would the insufferable conditions described in TFA have been described at all — or described using the same terms — if he were still the Progressives' darling for championing "green" causes?
Or has the tone switched, because Musk is a Trump-administration supporter (sort of) — and there is a well-organized smear and boycott campaign against him as a result?
There is a lively discussion on whether or not Musk is a "Trump enabler" — but people, who've already concluded, that he is, will stop at, literally, nothing. Even poisoning the "haters" is becoming a thing — online smears are child's play...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Robots would complain if they got sick due to working conditions.
If you RTFA, and keep reading past the portion quoted in the summary, you will read that Tesla's workplace safety is actually 32% better than the industry average. So the headline and summary are very misleading.
From TFA: [Tesla's] record of safety incidents went from slightly above the industry average in late 2016, to a performance in the first few months of 2017 that was 32% better than average.
As opposed to the lengths corporations go to employees from claiming a fair cut of the profits, which are very often outright criminal?
Yeah, two wrongs don't make a right, but battles are rarely won by those unwilling to get their hands dirty. And class warfare is the most enduring war in human history - anyone who says otherwise is almost certainly a PR flack for the rich.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
he's riding high on his pile of money conning investors and duping buyers into his shit cars.
His buyers don't think his cars are shit. Tesla is #1 in customer satisfaction. More Tesla buyers (91%) said they would buy again than any other brand. Porsche is #2 at 84%.
My wife has a Tesla, and she is very happy with it. However, I can't personally vouch for the quality because she won't let me drive it.
In terms of auto makers, 13 years is nothing. They've only been hyped up after Steve Jobs died because the media wanted a new Steve Jobs (Elon Musk).
The reliability of their vehicles isn't too hot. The cost is high, even when sold at a loss. Their entire design policy involves giving users beta cars the involve absurdities like seats being bricked by wonky firmware upgrades. Their mass-market model is delayed endlessly, and if/when it comes out they will not be able to manufacture it in volume.
They're simply not ready to play with the big boys. I'd compare it to Google thinking they could be an ISP. Yeah, some people are on Google fiber but a lot actually hate it, and Google has abandoned all plans at expansion because they realized they don't have the TRILLIONS it would take to buy all the infrastructure and lobbyists needed to get in on that game nation wide.
Google did have a positive impact by causing competition in areas they entered. Tesla has had a similar positive impact, with manufacturers clamoring to get a line-up of plug-in electric vehicles that have decent range. I'm glad both of them did what they did (just as I'm glad Apple got manufacturers to care about screen resolution ever since they coined the shitty "retina display" term).
But as far as being an actual success in the market? Nope. Not unless Elon and investors are willing to ride out another solid decade of pitiful (or even negative) results, battle against the states that make it illegal to sell Teslas (since they have no dealerships), figure out a way to profit from their sales and from their charging network, etc.
An AC down below called me a hater. I'd love for Tesla to succeed (despite my actual hate for Musk), even if I end up never being interested in their products. They bring competition and (possibly) innovation. I'm not aware of any other consumer electric vehicle with such a practical driving range, for example. I'm just a realist. Established industries are very, very, very hard to break into. Breaking into them by shitting hype and bleeding money rarely works. The establishment can outlast and outlawyer your investors.
look. 13 years of loss. 50 bn market cap.
that is the zenith of overvalued.
at least musk is admitting that it's overvalued and making a loss :D. unlike his last years book shenigans.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.