6 current and ex-Tesla employees reveal the one thing customers should know about what it's like to work there

mmatousek@businessinsider.com (Mark Matousek)
Updated

It’s more chaotic on the inside than it appears on the outside.

"There's a lot more convoluted stuff going on behind the scenes that I think a lot of customers don't know about," said a former sales employee who left the company this year.

The former sales employee said the commission structure for salespeople changed frequently, which created uncertainty around compensation.

Tesla

"You have more of a purpose," a current mobile-service technician said about working at Tesla. "I wouldn't be bragging that I'm a Ford mechanic. I say 'Tesla mechanic' and everybody's like, wow, that's cool."

Tesla

A former production worker at Tesla's Nevada factory, where the company makes battery packs and drivetrains, who left the company in 2018 said coworkers and friends who have worked for Tesla told him their enthusiasm for the company waned shortly after starting their jobs.

"Everyone there very much feels replaceable," he said.

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

The former employee said the disillusionment may stem from his friends and colleagues being instructed, like he was, not to look at CEO Elon Musk or any other Tesla executives when they came to the factory.

A former production employee at the Nevada factory who left the company this year said it's difficult to buy a home in nearby Reno if you don't make at least $50,000 per year.

Tesla said in a regulatory filing this year that its median employee made $56,163 last year, which means half of its employees made less than that.

Ng Han Guan/Associated Press

"When we say we don't know things, we really don't," a current salesperson said.

Hannibal Hanschke / Reuters

"More often than not, I would find that any customer that was angry at me was due to a problem within the system and not from a sales problem," said a former salesperson who left the company this year.

Sometimes, a customer's frustration stemmed from a problem with the way a car was produced or a communication issue between the sales and delivery departments, the former salesperson said.

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