That was in 2017. In the years since, Tesla has become even more cranky, while its competition has loosened up. Public perception has not yet caught up with the reality of the situation. If you want to work for a flexible and modern company, don’t apply to Tesla. Apply to 120-year-old Ford.
Tesla’s irreverent facade hides an inflexible core, an old-fashioned corporate autocracy. Consider Tesla’s remote work policy, or lack thereof. Last year, Mr. Musk issued a decree that Tesla employees log 40 hours a week in an office, and not a home office, if they hoped to keep their jobs. On Indeed.com, the question, “Can you work remotely at Tesla?” includes answers like “No” and “Absolutely not, they won’t let that happen under any circumstances” and “No, Tesla will work you until you lose everything.”
But on the other hand, cars make farting noises. What a strange and carefree company!
Meanwhile, Ford’s work-from-home rules for white-collar employees sound straight out of Silicon Valley, since the official corporate policy is that there is no official corporate policy; it is up to individual unit leaders to personally demand. collaboration, or not, as the situations indicate. There are new “collaboration centers” instead of cubicle farms, with food service and concierges. This isn’t the reality of everyday working life for everyone at Ford, you can’t exactly put together an F-150 from home, but it’s an attempt to provide some flexibility for as many people as possible.
Ford also tends to deliver on its promises, an area that has become increasingly difficult for Tesla. Ford said it would offer a hands-free driver assistance system, and now it does, with BlueCruise; you can take your hands off the wheel when it’s stuck on pre-mapped stretches of freeway. Tesla’s fully self-driving system isn’t hands-free in any situation, despite its name, and Tesla is charging customers $15,000 for the feature with the promise that it will one day make the big leap to fully autonomous driving.
If you want to pay $15,000 for a feature that’s currently subject to a recall from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, whose presentation is titled “Full Self-Driving Software Can Cause an Accident,” don’t let me stop, but a Tesla engineer also recently testified that a company video purporting to show the system in flawless action was faked. This makes sense, given all the other very real videos of fully autonomous driving doing things like steering into oncoming traffic or slowing to a complete stop on a busy street for no reason. Tesla’s own website warns: “Currently enabled features require a driver who is fully attentive, has their hands on the wheel and is ready to take over at a moment’s notice.” So, fully autonomous driving, except for that.
