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Tesla’s intense work culture is a perfect fit for the industry’s most driven workers
Tesla, just like SpaceX, operates under Silicon Valley principles. While this enables Tesla to evolve faster than traditional automakers, such a system also requires employees to continuously dig deep in order to accomplish targets. When SpaceX was starting out, its recruiting pitch was simple — it was the “special forces” in the space industry — and it was this pitch that attracted talent who are hungry and motivated enough to help the company achieve its milestones over the years.
The same is true for Tesla. The electric car maker has been around for 15 years — a short period of time considering the pedigree of rival automakers — but the company has already established itself as a leader in premium electric vehicles. Such growth and progress did not come easy, though, with Elon Musk openly admitting to tech journalist Kara Swisher at an episode of the Recode Decode podcast that milestones such as the Model 3 production ramp were only made possible due to “excruciating effort” and “hundred hour workweeks by everyone.”
Such an intense work culture has attracted a lot of detractors. Critics have accused the company of overworking its employees, as reflected in multiple critical exposes published about Tesla’s operations this year alone. One of the executives who left Tesla, former Chief Accounting Officer David Morton, also cited the company’s pace of work as among the reasons behind his departure. With its intense work culture, ambitious targets, and its frenetic pace, Tesla’s work environment is definitely not for everyone.
As revealed by data from Handshake, a student career-services app, though, it is exactly this type of intensity that makes Tesla attractive to young, driven applicants. Handshake noted that Telsa received more job and internship applications than any other company listed on the app in the 2016-2017 academic year. Last year alone, Tesla collected almost 500,000 applications, which is about double the volume it received in 2016. In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Cindy Nicola, vice president of global recruiting at Tesla, noted that the company had already received more applications to date this year than it did in all of 2017.
“Our interest from candidates continues to grow year over year,” she said.
Part of Tesla’s allure among young job applicants is the company’s mission — to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy — as well as the passion of its CEO, Elon Musk, a hands-on leader known to work long hours with his employees when needed. Kiran Karunakaran, who worked as an engineer at Tesla before he moved to Seattle, noted to the WSJ that before he was employed by the electric car company, he received a job offer from Apple. The iPhone-maker’s $115,000 per year offer was superior to Tesla’s 95,000 a year offer, but according to the engineer, the decision for him was a no-brainer.
“What really attracts young people to Tesla is instant gratification. You see these incredible things you’ve worked on come to fruition, on the road, in months,” he said.
Tesla’s attractiveness among applicants extends well into its internship program. For interns, the company’s flat organizational structure provides them with an opportunity to exercise their ideas and be heard. Anusha Atluri, a student from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business who worked as an intern at Tesla this past summer, experienced this firsthand. She worked at Tesla at a time when the company was ramping Model 3 production, and partway through her internship, she came up with an idea that could speed up the electric sedan’s lines.
The intern presented her idea in a Powerpoint presentation to her team, and it was well-received. She initially planned to discuss her suggestions with management the following week, but Tesla opted to implement her suggestions the next day. By the following week, the line was running more smoothly. “They were like, why not just try it tomorrow?” she said in a statement to the WSJ.
While the demanding hours and ambitious targets in Tesla could be exhausting, some workers have found themselves being underwhelmed in other companies after a tenure with the electric car maker. An engineering manager, who opted to remain anonymous, noted that she actually left Tesla after having a baby. When she was ready to get back on the workforce, she accepted an offer from a large tech company. Eventually, though, she felt that she was not a good fit. It did not take long before the engineering manager decided to go back to Tesla’s high-intensity environment.
“It isn’t just about working less. Everybody should have more work than they can possibly finish at all times. It forces the person to draw the line on when they give up—when they say, I’m done for the day. At Tesla, you have to achieve some kind of comfort knowing you didn’t do it all,” she said.
Elon Musk has noted that Tesla probably has the most exciting product roadmap in the market today. With exciting new electric cars and energy products in the pipeline, the company is bound to grow and expand its workforce even more. The company would most likely demand long hours and ambitious targets for its employees for years to come. Despite this, the company would likely continue to attract the most driven individuals that the talent pool has to offer — individuals that, just like Elon Musk, thrive in the face of pressure.
News
Tesla Supercharger access has proven to be a challenge for one company
Interestingly, it seems to be the Volkswagen brand specifically that is having issues with compatibility with Tesla Superchargers. Other brands under the VW umbrella, like Audi and Porsche, have already gained access to the charging network.

Tesla Supercharger access has proven to be quite the challenge for one company, as it continues to delay the date that it will enable its owners to charge at the most expansive network in the world.
Tesla Superchargers have been opening up to other brands for well over a year, and many car companies that are manufacturing electric vehicles now have access to the vast network that has over 70,000 locations worldwide.
Tesla to launch Supercharger access for VW owners later this year
However, one brand has experienced some issues with what it is calling “technical challenges,” specifically failing to enable cross-compatibility between its vehicles and Tesla Superchargers.
Volkswagen has had to delay its ability to enable customers to charge at Superchargers because there have been some difficulties getting things to run smoothly. A report from PCMag cites a quote from a Volkswagen spokesperson who said there are still plans to deliver this year, but there have been some delays:
“Volkswagen looks forward to making it possible for ID. Buzz and ID.4 vehicle owners to gain access to the Tesla NACS Partner Superchargers. The timeline has been delayed by technical challenges, and we ask for customers’ patience. We still expect to deliver access this year.”
Interestingly, it seems to be the Volkswagen brand specifically that is having issues with compatibility with Tesla Superchargers. Other brands under the VW umbrella, like Audi and Porsche, have already gained access to the charging network.
Volkswagen EV owners will need to use an official VW adapter to access the Tesla Supercharger Network once the issues are resolved. It still plans to launch access to its owners later this year, but its spokesperson did not announce any planned timeline.
News
Tesla Giga Berlin makes big move amid strong sales and demand
“We currently have very good sales figures and have therefore revised our production plans for the third and fourth quarters upwards.”

Tesla is making a big move at its factory in Germany, known as Giga Berlin, as managers at the plant have indicated the company plans to increase its production rate for the remainder of the year.
Giga Berlin is responsible for manufacturing Model Y vehicles for several markets worldwide, including those outside of Europe. It was opened in March 2022, and it recently built its 500,000th Model Y in March and its 100,000th new Model Y just three weeks ago.
Due to some encouraging sales figures in the markets it provides vehicles for, Tesla said it is planning to increase production at the factory for the remainder of the year.
Andrè Thierig, plant manager at Giga Berlin, said to German news outlet DPA on Sunday that market data has encouraged a move to be made regarding the production at the factory:
“We currently have very good sales figures and have therefore revised our production plans for the third and fourth quarters upwards.”
It is interesting to see this kind of narrative from Thierig, especially as data has shown Tesla has struggled in various markets, including Germany, this year.
Sales drops have been reported, but other markets are holding strong, especially those in Northern Europe, such as Norway, where the Model Y saw a nearly 39 percent increase in sales in August compared to the same month the previous year.
Gigafactory Berlin supplies vehicles for other markets, such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, which are strategically important to avoid tariffs. It also builds cars for the Middle East.
Thierig reiterated this point during the interview with DPA:
“We supply well over 30 markets and definitely see a positive trend there.”
Elon Musk
Tesla analyst says Musk stock buy should send this signal to investors
“With Musk’s (Tesla stock) purchase, combined with the upward momentum for delivery expectations and robotaxi rollout, we are becoming more bullish.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk purchased roughly $1 billion in Tesla shares on Friday, and analysts are now breaking down the move as the stock is headed upward.
One of them is William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer, who said in a new note to investors on Monday that Musk’s move should send a signal of confidence to stock buyers, especially considering the company’s numerous catalysts that currently exist.
Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever
Dorsheimer said in the note:
“With Musk’s (Tesla stock) purchase, combined with the upward momentum for delivery expectations and robotaxi rollout, we are becoming more bullish. This purchase is Musk’s first buy since 2020. To us, this sends a strong signal of confidence in the most important part of Tesla’s future business, robotaxi.”
Musk putting an additional $1 billion back into the company in the form of more stock ownership is obviously a huge vote of confidence.
He knows more than anyone about the progress Tesla has made and is making on the Robotaxi platform, as well as the company’s ongoing efforts to solve vehicle autonomy. If he’s buying stock, it is more than likely a good sign.
Tesla has continued to expand its Robotaxi platform in a number of ways. The project has gotten bigger in terms of service area, vehicle fleet, and testing population. Tesla has also recently received a permit to test in Nevada, unlocking the potential to expand into a brand-new state for the company.
In the note, Dorsheimer also touched on Musk’s recent pay package, revealing that William Blair recently met with Tesla’s Board of Directors, who gave the firm some more color on the situation:
“We recently participated in a meeting with Tesla’s board of directors to discuss the details of Musk’s performance package. The board is confident of its position in the Delaware case and anticipates a verdict by end of year. It does not expect a similar situation to occur under new Texas jurisdiction. Musk has the board’s full support, and we expect he’ll get more than enough shareholder support for this to pass with flying colors.”
Tesla stock is up over 6 percent so far today, trading at $421.50 at the time of publication.
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