Recording reveals what Tesla training instructor told staff about company culture

Business Insider

2 days ago

A weeklong factory-wide shutdown at the Tesla factory in Austin featured training events for staffers who didn't take time off — including one focusing on improving company culture.
Business Insider obtained a recording of the session at which an internal training instructor asked staff at Elon Musk's electric vehicle company to raise their hands if they felt their team's culture could be improved.
The instructor called for people to respond if they'd ever felt "I can't work under these conditions" or had felt set back by constant change at the company.
"I know I have," the instructor told the employees.
"A lot of people leave this company, and they have kind of a negative taste in their mouth," the instructor said. "They think: 'Man, it was terrible. It was bad. I got burnt out. I feel like I didn't get anything done, nobody listened to me.'"
A spokesperson for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Tesla halted production at the Austin factory, which runs production lines for its Cybertruck and Model Y, for the week of Memorial Day. During the week, workers could choose between taking paid time off or coming into the factory for cleaning and training, according to three people with knowledge of the issue.
It is unclear why Tesla chose to halt production for the week.
At the factory, several hundred Tesla employees attended cleaning and training events during the shutdown, including the session focused on improving company culture, three people said.
The instructor of that training encouraged staff to take some responsibility for Tesla's culture and a more active role in improving it.
"Leadership has kind of another level of responsibility for trying to guide and direct that culture," the instructor said. "But at the end of the day, it's us as the people on the ground that are the reflection of the culture."
The recording offers a rare glimpse into how Tesla is handling employee morale at a time when the electric-car maker is grappling with lackluster sales, growing public scrutiny, and some signs of internal dissent from its workforce.
The instructor told participants the culture training was usually reserved for leadership but they'd decided to share it more widely.
"Hopefully you can walk out of here with almost a different sense of purpose than just the job itself," the trainer said.
"We want you to think about the higher purpose," they added.
The company also held trainings on improving efficiency on the line and environmental health and safety.
Two workers said the recent trainings and the weeklong shutdown were unusual for the carmaker.
In April, the carmaker reported a 13% drop in deliveries. Over the past few months, the company has faced backlash as a result of Musk's ties to President Donald Trump. On Friday, Musk officially stepped back from his work at the Department of Government Efficiency. He has said he will and spend more of his time focusing on Tesla.