Tesla Motors: Global Organization of Labor Essay

The place where the majority of employees are based

Tesla Motors is a company that experiences rapid development due to the innovations and appropriately chosen marketing strategies. As a matter of fact, the company started their work with 600 workers and increased this number by twenty times¹. Over 13,000 people work for Tesla nowadays. The majority of the employees are based in Fremont, California.

Unionization

The employees in Tesla are not unionized; however, the United Auto Workers aimed to unionize the staff.² Although the attempt failed to succeed, the UAW does not want to give up.

Salaries of the very top executives

The wages of the top executives in Tesla Motors is different. Elon Musk makes almost 35,000$ a year, chief technology officer – 249,600$; chief financial officer – 338,000$; vice president – almost 273,000$.³

The lowest-paid ends of Tesla

Work for Tesla is complicated and will not suit those who want to find a balance between personal life and work. Some managers try to show employees that they are easily replaceable and are not important.⁴ Standard wages and this fact discourage work. However, the majority of the employees think that being able to make something that has never been done before and being able to contribute to innovations and development overweight the disadvantages. The experience that is gained at Tesla Motors is considered to be valuable.

Chief mechanical engineer makes about 146,000$ a year. According to the information stated in the description of Tesla vacancies, Chief engineers are responsible for the design, analysis, and testing of mechanical components.

One of the lowest salaries that can be compared to the wages of the ordinary worker is the salary of Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of Tesla Motors.⁵

Gender balance of employees at various ranks

Although the majority of people think that the automobile industry is not for women, it is worth stating that twenty-seven women are working for Tesla.⁶ However, the majority of employees are men. According to the research, all executives and people who hold high positions are men. Such a gap in gender diversity can be explained by the fact that not a lot of females choose technical careers.

Managerial and employee diversity

The American company is not going to give up on the conquest of the world market of electric cars, and for this purpose, it intends to increase the number of employees sharply. Currently, the number of open vacancies at Tesla Motors exceeds fifteen hundred.

To become a member of Tesla, there is no need to move to California. Among the 1649 vacancies, there are not only technicians but also employees that are needed for the dealerships in the United States.⁷ Tesla is looking for transport engineers in Norway, and in Germany and France for specialists in sales development.

The top manager of Tesla one stated:

We have built a company that draws on diverse, exceptional talent from all over the world. Diversity is one of the many factors we consider when hiring and recruiting, and we are fortunate to benefit from a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and ideas from our employees. This diversity will remain a key feature of work-life at Tesla going forward.⁸

Union or student solidarity or living wage campaigns

According to the words of Elon Musk, the attitude of the company towards unionization is neutral.⁹ However, the United Auto Workers aimed to organize the workforce, however, failed. Nevertheless, the UAW does not want to give up and will continue the attempts.

Response to such campaigns

Tesla Motors provides the workers with appropriate working conditions and environment for them not to seek help from the unions¹⁰. One of the major strategies of the company related to the staff is that people are not forced to work for Tesla. In case they do not like the conditions, the employees can leave the workplace as there are thousands of candidates who dream about this job, and thus, there is no need for the workers to unionize.

Bibliography

Doeden, Matt. SpaceX and Tesla Motors Engineer Elon Musk. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2015.

Kopytoff, Verne. “Tesla’s Gender Gap at the Top Narrows – but Just a Little.” Fortune. Web.

Loveday, Eric. “UAW Looks to Unionize Tesla Motors.” Inside EVs. Web.

“SFGate: Unions Press for Place with Tesla.” Tesla Motors Inc. Web.

“Tesla Motors Inc. Executive Salaries & Other Compensation.” Salary.com. Web.

Vance, Ashlee. Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Is Shaping Our Future. London: Virgin Books, 2015.

Wattles, Jackie. “Tesla’s Female Engineers Say #ILookLikeAnEngineer.” CNNMoney. Web.

Footnotes

1. Matt Doeden, SpaceX, and Tesla Motors Engineer Elon Musk. (Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2015), 64.
2. Eric Loveday, “UAW Looks to Unionize Tesla Motors,” Inside EVs, Web.
3. “Tesla Motors Inc. Executive Salaries & Other Compensation,” Salary.com, Web.
4. Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Is Shaping Our Future. (London: Virgin Books, 2015), 51.
5. Matt Doeden, SpaceX, and Tesla Motors Engineer Elon Musk. (Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2015), 62.
6. Jackie Wattles, “Tesla’s Female Engineers Say #ILookLikeAnEngineer,” CNNMoney, Web.
7. Verne Kopytoff, “Tesla’s Gender Gap at the Top Narrows – but Just a Little,” Fortune, Web.
8. Verne Kopytoff, “Tesla’s Gender Gap at the Top Narrows – but Just a Little,” Fortune, Web.
9. “SFGate: “Unions Press for Place with Tesla,” Tesla Motors Inc., Web.
10. Ibid.