Tesla Inc. is facing a tough outlook ahead amid the departures of its key personnel and executives as it seeks to launch the Model 3, its most critical electric sedan yet in the market sometime this year. The Model 3 plays a critical role in Musk's master plans to bring Tesla from a relatively low-volume manufacturer into a more mainstream automaker.
According to a Bloomberg news report, Tesla's Chief Financial Officer Jason Wheeler announced his exit just 15 months after he joined from Google is the latest following a raft of largely under-the-radar exits. "Former executives, who spoke on the condition they not be identified, cited a range of reasons for their exits over the past year, including long hours in the rush to high-volume production, mission creeps, and a tense culture that reflects their visionary but indefatigable chief executive officer, Elon Musk." The report highlighted.
However, Tesla does take note that in its recently filed annual report that it needs to attract and retain skilled workers. This year, it also pointed out that the efforts are needed "especially to support our expansion plans and ramp to the high-volume manufacture of vehicles."
Alongside this note, Tesla also shared three-quarters of its senior management team have more than three years of tenure, 60% have been with the company at least six years and 20 percent have worked there a decade, according to the spokesman. Almost 60% of those who've had a leadership position at Tesla over its 14-year existence are still with the company, Tesla added.
"Tesla looks like a company that is getting stretched to the limit," Dave Sullivan, an analyst at industry researcher AutoPacific Inc. reportedly saying in the Bloomberg report. "The pressure of getting out the Model 3 is getting to everybody, from the people on the factory floor to the people at the top."
