Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

Martyn1981

QrizB said:

CKhalvashi said:

JKenH said:

JKenH said:

Elon Musk has 'super bad feeling' about economy, wants to slash Tesla jobs

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/tech/elon-musk-tesla-jobs-economy/index.html

Update on above story

Elon Musk has clarified that Tesla laying off 10% of its workforce only applies to “salaried employees,” and that the automaker is still hiring hourly workers.

https://electrek.co/2022/06/03/elon-musk-clarifies-tesla-layoffs-salaried-employees/

Sounds like he wants to remove fixed expenses and make expenses more variable.
Not against this in principle, but we do offer a 20/25/30 hour guarantee for most positions in this case. I don't think replacing experienced (expensive) workers with hourly employees on effective zero hour contracts (which as a company we don't offer and never will for as long as I'm running it) is a moral or reasonable way to go.

I think the salaried vs. hourly-paid is a white-collar vs. blue-collar comparison. Tesla want to shed 10% of their professional & managerials staff but are still hiring shop-floor workers.

Yeah, they did a similar thing a few years ago after the TM3 ramp up settled down. Expand by all means possible, then tidy up, then rinse and repeat.

Hexane

Martyn1981 said:

QrizB said:

CKhalvashi said:

JKenH said:

JKenH said:

Elon Musk has 'super bad feeling' about economy, wants to slash Tesla jobs

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/tech/elon-musk-tesla-jobs-economy/index.html

Update on above story

Elon Musk has clarified that Tesla laying off 10% of its workforce only applies to “salaried employees,” and that the automaker is still hiring hourly workers.

https://electrek.co/2022/06/03/elon-musk-clarifies-tesla-layoffs-salaried-employees/

Sounds like he wants to remove fixed expenses and make expenses more variable.
Not against this in principle, but we do offer a 20/25/30 hour guarantee for most positions in this case. I don't think replacing experienced (expensive) workers with hourly employees on effective zero hour contracts (which as a company we don't offer and never will for as long as I'm running it) is a moral or reasonable way to go.

I think the salaried vs. hourly-paid is a white-collar vs. blue-collar comparison. Tesla want to shed 10% of their professional & managerials staff but are still hiring shop-floor workers.

Yeah, they did a similar thing a few years ago after the TM3 ramp up settled down. Expand by all means possible, then tidy up, then rinse and repeat.

It's a tried and tested methodology. If you can keep the workforce guessing (especially the better paid parts of it), then you can (eventually) make the workforce your slaves.

As a shareholder, I'm not really going to complain!

1961Nick

Hexane said:

Martyn1981 said:

QrizB said:

CKhalvashi said:

JKenH said:

JKenH said:

Elon Musk has 'super bad feeling' about economy, wants to slash Tesla jobs

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/tech/elon-musk-tesla-jobs-economy/index.html

Update on above story

Elon Musk has clarified that Tesla laying off 10% of its workforce only applies to “salaried employees,” and that the automaker is still hiring hourly workers.

https://electrek.co/2022/06/03/elon-musk-clarifies-tesla-layoffs-salaried-employees/

Sounds like he wants to remove fixed expenses and make expenses more variable.
Not against this in principle, but we do offer a 20/25/30 hour guarantee for most positions in this case. I don't think replacing experienced (expensive) workers with hourly employees on effective zero hour contracts (which as a company we don't offer and never will for as long as I'm running it) is a moral or reasonable way to go.

I think the salaried vs. hourly-paid is a white-collar vs. blue-collar comparison. Tesla want to shed 10% of their professional & managerials staff but are still hiring shop-floor workers.

Yeah, they did a similar thing a few years ago after the TM3 ramp up settled down. Expand by all means possible, then tidy up, then rinse and repeat.

It's a tried and tested methodology. If you can keep the workforce guessing (especially the better paid parts of it), then you can (eventually) make the workforce your slaves.

As a shareholder, I'm not really going to complain!

It's an old fashioned technique but quickly subdues any complacency or sense of entitlement. Also, anyone resisting going back into the office will likely reconsider that stance.

Martyn1981

OK, very weird post that may be of zero interest, but looking at an article on France's May sales, and I thought the table was a really handy list of smaller/cheaper BEV's ..... that's all.

michaels

Martyn1981 said:

OK, very weird post that may be of zero interest, but looking at an article on France's May sales, and I thought the table was a really handy list of smaller/cheaper BEV's ..... that's all.

Cheaper is of course relative....but that does put to the lie the contention that most EVs are medium SUVs and bigger.

Martyn1981

michaels said:

Martyn1981 said:

OK, very weird post that may be of zero interest, but looking at an article on France's May sales, and I thought the table was a really handy list of smaller/cheaper BEV's ..... that's all.

Cheaper is of course relative....but that does put to the lie the contention that most EVs are medium SUVs and bigger.

Yep, but to caveat that slightly, this is France where smaller cars are King, and an off month/period for Tesla due to low exports from China after the April Covid factory shutdown(s).

But the direction of travel looks good for variety.

shinytop

Martyn1981 said:

michaels said:

Martyn1981 said:

OK, very weird post that may be of zero interest, but looking at an article on France's May sales, and I thought the table was a really handy list of smaller/cheaper BEV's ..... that's all.

Cheaper is of course relative....but that does put to the lie the contention that most EVs are medium SUVs and bigger.

Yep, but to caveat that slightly, this is France where smaller cars are King, and an off month/period for Tesla due to low exports from China after the April Covid factory shutdown(s).

But the direction of travel looks good for variety.

I'm currently staying in the Athens suburbs and there really is no space for SUV or Tesla sized BEVs here, either to park or drive them.  They are going to have to be small, Fiesta-sized cars. I suspect other cities are similar. 

I really think that the smaller end of the BEV market is going to have to step up to the mark.  
 

orrery

shinytop said:

I'm currently staying in the Athens suburbs and there really is no space for SUV or Tesla sized BEVs here, either to park or drive them.  They are going to have to be small, Fiesta-sized cars. I suspect other cities are similar. 

I really think that the smaller end of the BEV market is going to have to step up to the mark. 

Indeed - there are places around the med where the Twingo, able to park nose in, is about the largest vehicle that is practical.

JKenH

JKenH said:

JKenH said:

Elon Musk has 'super bad feeling' about economy, wants to slash Tesla jobs

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/tech/elon-musk-tesla-jobs-economy/index.html

Update on above story

Elon Musk has clarified that Tesla laying off 10% of its workforce only applies to “salaried employees,” and that the automaker is still hiring hourly workers.

https://electrek.co/2022/06/03/elon-musk-clarifies-tesla-layoffs-salaried-employees/

 

Elon Musk backtracks on job cuts, says Tesla salaried staff to be 'fairly flat'

Elon Musk said on Saturday that the electric vehicle maker's total headcount will increase over the next 12 months, but the number of salaried staff should be little changed, backtracking from an email just two days ago saying that job cuts of 10% were needed.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/musk-says-teslas-total-headcount-will-increase-over-next-12-months-2022-06-04/

Martyn1981

I believe the expression is - "S**t's getting real!" - whether it's a transition to EV's or away from FF's, there's a lot of money and company value to be made ....... or lost?

Financial Analysis: Faster Electrification Would Boost Car Company Stocks & Profits

Car manufacturers stand to increase their market value and profit margins by switching to electric vehicles faster than they currently plan, according to a financial analysis of six car companies. It finds the automakers would add €800 billion to their stock value if they transition faster¹ this decade instead of hanging onto their combustion engine business model. The results run counter to the industry narrative that Europe’s drive to sell only zero-emissions cars in 2035 would hit profitability and cost jobs.

Manufacturers face the prospect of dwindling profits on combustion engines in the late 2020s as competition from cheaper battery electric vehicles and tighter regulations hit sales and reduce their economies of scale. To model their cash flow in the future, research house Profundo looked at the six carmakers’ financial figures and separated the EV and combustion engine businesses of each into two distinct companies. The analysis finds:

• Operating profit margins for EV companies are expected to surpass combustion engine-makers’ in 3–5 years.

• Towards the end of the 2020s, the profit margins of engine-makers are set to decrease and even become negative on balance sheets.

In Europe, the EU’s clean car rules are the chief driver of electrification. The current proposal to make the standards more ambitious would require little progress until 2030. But the Profundo research shows 2030 will be too late to make the switch if European carmakers want to avoid financial pain — with potentially dire consequences for auto industry jobs.

Julia Poliscanova, senior director for vehicles and e-mobility at T&E, said: “A faster transition to electric is not only in the interests of the climate and consumers, it is vital to the financial viability of European automakers. EU lawmakers have an obligation to these businesses and workers to support a timely transition. Higher car CO2 standards than are currently on the table for 2025 and 2030 are key to speeding it up.”