> Tesla said the performance-based departures were not considered layoffs and not subject to state notifications. It also said the moves have generally boosted worker morale, as high-performing employees have been rewarded.

Maybe I'm just paranoid but this part kind of smells to me.

If your employer who apparently fires people randomly asked you in a survey if you are happy about your company, would you answer honestly?

Haha, well, that's true, but I mostly meant that it looks like they might be being disingenuous about the real reasons for the firing so that they can sidestep the law about notification before a layoff. Especially when you consider that during any layoff they're probably dumping lower performers anyway.

One of my best momemts at bigco was a useless middle manager getting fired. Bad and toxic employees do kill morale for your team.

Sure. But then why keep them around for up to a year and fire them in bulk? The moment to get rid of a bad employee is as soon as you notice you have a bad employee.

The distribution of noticing problems should be pretty much random, so concentrating the firings in a once-a-year block means a high tolerance for keeping bad employees around. That, or they got rid of these people for reasons not really related to performance.

An unannounced layoff, though?

> Workers spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals from the company. Employees said the firings have lowered morale through many departments.

>Do other companies do this? Unless this is GE-style force ranking, I've never heard of it.

Probably not right during the ramp up of the most critical product in company's history...

Note the bit at the end:

> Tesla has a hearing before the National Labor Relations Board in November for charges that company supervisors and security guards harassed workers distributing union literature. Tesla denied the accusations.

>Openly pro-union workers were among those fired this week. Some believe they were targeted.

> The company denied union activities played a role in the dismissals.

There are dynamics in blue-collar labor and generally manufacturing that are not relevant to software companies.

No plan, just some dictatorship in action. They see trouble coming and make some random moves

most large IT company do, including amazon google and ibm

Amazon and Google both do PIPs before firing low performing employees. That means several months (usually 6 or more) of pay and time to find a new job. It also means your employer isn't in the news with "Everyone who left in October is a low performer you shouldn't hire."

Google doesn't do this.

[citation needed]

The burden of proof is on the one making the claim

Homestly who cares? I considered this a community for “hackers” so either they’re at large willful ignorant of the industry they work on or misguided or outsiders and in all these cases nothing I could add would be useful to them neither engaging in a discussion would be for me.

And yet you are still here running your mouth.

I agree this community has problems, but if you want to fight that, posting apparently made-up claims and then refusing to back it with evidence is not the way to change anybody's mind.