The co-head of the Ministry of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, is famous for his aggressive cost-cutting policies at his private companies, including SpaceX, Tesla, and X. President-elect Donald Trump invited Elon Musk to co-lead the Ministry of Government Efficiency alongside entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to reduce government spending.
At companies like X, Tesla, and SpaceX, Musk is renowned for his rigorous work culture and drastic cost-cutting measures.
A long-time executive at Tesla, who resigned in August, wrote on LinkedIn that working there was an “extraordinary” experience but “not for the faint-hearted.”
Ending Remote Work and Free Lunches
A few weeks after acquiring Twitter (now X), Musk sent an email at 2:30 AM in November 2022, announcing the end of remote work because “the road ahead is arduous and requires intense work to succeed.”
He also required employees to pay for previously free office lunches, mentioning an 80-hour work week.
That same month, Musk laid off about half of Twitter’s approximately 7,500 employees.
In a midnight email, he gave the remaining employees an ultimatum: work diligently or be fired with three months’ severance.
When Twitter employees criticized Musk online and in internal Slack messages, he fired them.
Firing 10% of Tesla Staff at Midnight
Tesla’s employee handbook sets very high standards, requiring self-reliance and doing whatever it takes to solve problems, even directly contacting Musk.
“Your number one job—and everyone’s—is to make this company successful… If you see an opportunity to improve how we work, speak up, even if it’s outside your responsibility… Good ideas mean nothing if kept to yourself,” the Tesla handbook reads.
In 2018, Musk said he slept on a couch and the factory floor at Tesla for many nights as the company ramped up production of the Model 3 sedan. He explained that he wanted to suffer more than anyone else in the company.
At the 2022 Baron Investment Conference, Musk shared that he lived at Tesla’s factories in California and Nevada “for three consecutive years” to inspire employees to “give their all” and show them that he was also working hard.
In April, Tesla announced the layoff of 10% of its workforce to cut costs in a midnight email. This followed a report of an 8.7% year-over-year revenue decline.
Firing SpaceX Employees to Streamline Operations
In 2019, Musk laid off 10% of SpaceX employees in an effort to “become a leaner company.”
Vincent Peters, a former SpaceX employee, described the work culture there as “ruthlessly efficient,” where people are encouraged to leave meetings where they do not add value.
He recounted an incident where a government customer brought a 50-slide presentation, and after just 6 slides, 75% of the room had left. The customer then had to “fast-forward” to the last 5 slides.
Jim Cantrell, former Vice President of Business Development at SpaceX in the early 2000s, said that working with Musk could be a great experience if one shared his vision and could handle a boss who demands complete dedication.
Additionally, SpaceX has been striving to develop a fully reusable rocket system to reduce launch costs by a factor of ten.
In October, during the fifth test flight of the Starship rocket, the Super Heavy booster successfully returned to the launch site, marking a significant step in reducing space travel costs.
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Source: Vietnam Insider