Some workers say they're worried about more than just burnout because of Tesla's unconventional operations.
Tesla's factory safety record is one of its most controversial issues. In April, The Center for Investigative Reporting reported that Tesla's total injury rate was significantly higher than the industrywide rate in 2016, the latest year for which data was available.
Factories can be dangerous places, and Tesla said its record isn't perfect. But a representative said its past years' record no longer reflects the company.
"There should be absolutely no question that we care deeply about the well-being of our employees and that we try our absolute hardest to do the right thing and to fail less often," the representative said. "When it comes to safety, our record is on par with other automotive companies, and we improve with each passing month and will keep doing so until we have the safest factories in the world by far."
An engineer at the Gigafactory said he believed that Tesla's reputation for poor safety was more like a hangover from its earlier days, and said today the company has "put in safety systems."
Several other current employees told us the same. While injuries may happen, safety, particularly over the past year, has been a major emphasis, with workers getting constant reminders, training, and new procedures.
A software engineer said the engineering managers who work on the production lines are "conscientious people" who care deeply about the workers and are always looking for ways to improve the process.
For instance, the Model 3 production lines, the latest to be built, include fancy ergonomics adjustments. Employees can wear sensor suits that track their movements to minimize repetitive stress injuries. Workstations can be raised up or moved about to adjust to the worker, Crystal Spates, a Model 3 production manager, said.
The company has hired six athletic trainers to help workers who complain of aches and pains, showing them stretches, exercises, how to use athletic tape, and more, Kirschner said.
Still, some of the blue-collar workers we spoke with said they witnessed accidents in the years they worked there, or had accidents of their own, ranging from minor to serious. Phillips, who is among the employees pushing for a union, said in his four years at the company he has witnessed "one, two, three, four stretchers in the last couple of years come by me."
There's some evidence to back his claims. A report from the Fremont Police Department, received by Business Insider, showed more than 300 911 calls made from the Fremont facility between January 2016 and March 2018 involving a wide variety of alleged issues, such as intruders on the property and suicide threats.
Of those 300 calls, 11 involved claims of accidents and six involved claims of accidents with "no visible injury."
That compares to nine 911 calls during the same period — including claims of accidents and a trash fire — at General Motor's 1,200-employee, 4.3-million-square-foot factory in Lake Orion, Michigan, which manufacturers its electric competitor, the Chevy Bolt EV. These factories are not identical, so there may be many reasons the number of 911 calls differs between the two. (For details on the 911 calls, see the related graphic below.)
Several people said they believed one reason for Tesla's murky reputation is that it hires a lot of workers with no previous factory experience and trains them internally. We talked to factory workers with backgrounds from construction to home finance.
Employees said such a workforce helps Tesla think outside the box. But it has drawbacks.
"In general, every factory is a little dangerous, especially if you have a workforce not used to a manufacturing setting and you're getting people off the streets who may have been at McDonald's or Starbucks," Kirschner said. So Tesla drills them on safety procedures, he said.
If an incident happens, employees are instructed to call internal security and wait for someone to arrive. Security personnel administer first aid, if needed, or take the person to a company nurse. The nurse may call 911.
The disturbing part for Phillips is that "whatever is happening with them, believe it or not, the line continues."
Although Tesla's production line always stops in order to remove the person from harm's way and call for medical attention, the line does return to business. In other industrial settings, if the accident is serious enough, workers who see the incident could be sent home, Phillips asserts. "Because nobody can keep their mind on their work when they've seen something terrible happen to somebody," he said.
While Tesla's happiest employees love the company like a second family, not everyone feels that way. Tesla is facing several lawsuits from employees alleging safety violations, harassment, and more. Tesla denies the validity of the lawsuits, making counter allegations against the people suing and the circumstances cited in their suits.
Meanwhile, two Gigafactory employees are attempting to register as official whistleblowers with the SEC, one of whom Tesla is suing on claims of hacking. And some employees, like Galescu and Phillips, are trying to unionize.
If things don't go Tesla's way, it could find itself mandated by courts or outside influences to make all sorts of changes.
Those who have worked closely with Musk said that the company doesn't have to be battered that way. The solution may be simpler: Have Musk remain as the visionary strategist but assign day-to-day operations to a capable, empowered COO, much like SpaceX has in Gwynne Shotwell.
"SpaceX had Gwyn — Tesla never had a COO," a former VP said. Musk "was never able to relinquish control." So he has been doing what he's famous for doing: "He micromanaged."
Finding a COO that could do the job without running afoul of Musk and getting fired can't happen unless Musk himself sees the light.
Just as with other companies Musk has founded, Tesla's board is stacked with Musk loyalists, including his brother, Kimbal Musk; longtime friend and financial backer and VC Steve Jurvetson; and early Tesla investor Antonio Gracias. Tesla said the latter two and the rest of the board qualify as independent directors, according to NASDAQ rules. But both of them have also invested in other Musk companies, such as SpaceX and SolarCity.
After the "funding secured" tweet fiasco, the board may have become more motivated to find a qualified No. 2, whether Musk is on board or not, sources told The New York Times.
As one mechanical engineer said of Musk and Tesla, "I respect the guy [but] I think the best thing that he could do is step away from the CEO position and be the innovator. But he still thinks of it as a startup."
And with 40,000 employees, it isn't. "I'm sorry — it's got to mature," the engineer added. "It's got to be a company."
For those giving their all for the mission, they say the work, sweat, and tears are worth it.
"Tesla is doing things that not a lot of people are doing. We're taking on challenges because we want to accelerate the world into sustainable energy," Jennifer Lew, a robotics engineering manager in Fremont, said. "If you are thinking about joining Tesla and are prepared for the intense work, I can say it's been a really good experience. All the challenges of ramping up these production lines? I couldn't have done that somewhere else."