Tesla

Working at Tesla proves you are highly resilient and able to handle long working hours. The company has extremely strict recruitment criteria, so many candidates fail to get hired after interviews. A work experience at Tesla is a real highlight on your resume. What's more, the new energy industry enjoys promising prospects.

Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai enjoys a positive public image and marketing reputation, yet its internal management is far from satisfactory.

Excessively long and frequent meetings Meetings take up a great deal of working time. Weekly team meetings on Mondays last for around three hours, while product and project progress meetings are held on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. Many attendees deliver lengthy reports of 30 minutes or more. These meetings often run through lunch breaks, and afternoon progress sessions usually drag on for at least two and a half hours, forcing employees to work overtime regularly.

Extreme working hours and frequent business trips Staff in Supply Chain, R&D and Procurement are required to travel constantly. Many have to leave for airports or railway stations as early as 6 a.m. Even for trips to nearby cities like Suzhou and Changshu, most make round trips on the same day, often getting home as late as 8 p.m. The workplace is highly stressful. Managers focus solely on supervision instead of helping engineers solve practical problems. The top-down management style creates a lack of trust between leaders and team members. Most employees are out on business trips four days a week, leaving little time for family life.

Repetitive reporting and heavy documentation workload The same issues need to be reported repeatedly to quality teams, production departments and different supervisors on various occasions. Each department has its own standards for reports, requiring constant revisions and updates. Employees spend days travelling, then attend meetings and submit reports after work. Mandatory evening training sessions also take up personal time, making overtime for paperwork a daily routine.

Limited benefits and no year-end bonuses for all staff The compensation package only includes a 12-month base salary and stock options, with no additional perks or holiday gifts. No employees in the company receive year-end bonuses, and the management has never provided any explanation for this.

Work culture values compliance over independent thinking Currying favor with supervisors matters more than actual job performance. Leaders prefer employees who report frequently and follow orders unconditionally, rather than those who are innovative and think independently. Employees are expected only to execute tasks instead of offering ideas.

High turnover and strict speech control The company has a high employee turnover rate. Strict rules are imposed on external remarks: only two designated staff members are allowed to speak to the media. All other employees may only share official content, and any personal opinions are prohibited, with potential legal consequences for violations.

Undisclosed non-compete agreements and bureaucratic management New hires are required to sign the non-compete agreement together with the employment contract upon onboarding, and this requirement is never disclosed during recruitment. The company enforces the non-compete restrictions on many regular engineers after they resign, which prevents them from taking up new job offers. Job seekers should stay alert. The advertised flat management structure does not exist. The workplace is highly bureaucratic with rigid hierarchies. Employees are forbidden to report problems to senior leaders across levels, and some have spoken out online about unfair treatment at work.

24/7 on-call requirement Messages about work progress are sent around the clock via Teams and WeChat. Employees are expected to reply instantly. Failure to respond during off-hours or on weekends will be regarded as insubordination, leading to unfair treatment or retaliation.

All the above are true experiences. I choose to remain anonymous to avoid repercussions.

Nothing will change the current situation no matter what is said. The company needs to bring in more competent managers, like those from Google. The status quo can hardly be improved if the management team is fully composed of local staff.