A Tesla worker who was suddenly fired has revealed how he went above and beyond while working at the company and even slept in his car and showered at the factory.
Nico Murillo, 29, had worked at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California, as a production supervisor for five years.
Last month, he was suddenly let go from his position with absolutely no warning and just an email at 4:30 am on his way to work, letting him know his position had been ‘eliminated by restructuring.’
In disbelief, Murillo still showed up to work that Monday morning – only to find that when he tried to swipe his badge to enter the building it didn’t work and a security guard confiscated it from him.
‘I got my badge, went to the turnstile, and then it didn’t work, and it turned red and started beeping, and I was like, “Is this real?”‘ he told KTVU.
Nico Murillo (pictured), 29, had worked at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California, as a production supervisor for five years
The hard-worker was so committed to his role that he spent the majority of nights sleeping the trunk of his car, a Tesla, to save himself from the three hour daily commute
Murillo had been climbing the ranks throughout his five years at Tesla – and his final role oversaw the assembly of electric vehicles.
The hard-worker was so committed to his role that he spent the majority of nights sleeping in the trunk of his car, a Tesla, to save himself from the three-hour daily commute.
He described sleeping in his car, showering in the factory and eating microwaveable meals for dinner.
But despite his dedication, Murillo became another one of the 14,000 Tesla employees that have been laid off since April – which accounts for a whopping 10 percent of the company’s workforce.
Murillo has tried to maintain a positive attitude in light of his abrupt termination, ‘My analogy, I play football, it’s like, things go wrong, the other team, they get the ball, and then you know, you just got to work with what you got,’ Murillo said.
Murillo, whose two brothers also both work at Tesla, said he holds no animosity against his former company, but he is concerned for their careers.
‘I think Tesla really taught me how to overcome challenges really quick,’ Murillo said – adding that he wasn’t warned by Tesla about the layoffs but that was offered severance pay, although he declined to specify how much.
Murillo has now placed his house on the market and plans to continue living out of his car and investing in the stock market for a few years.
He has already landed on his feet and started a new job as the manager of a GNC store in Pleasanton.
Elon Musk‘s Tesla laid off more staff members from multiple different departments – including software, service and engineering – in a fourth week of job cuts as the EV car maker keeps shedding staff.
Murillo became another one of the 14,000 Tesla employees that have been laid off since April – which accounts for a whopping 10 percent of the company’s workforce
Elon Musk ‘s Tesla laid off more staff member from multiple different departments – including software, service and engineering – in a fourth week of job cuts as the EV car maker keeps shedding staff
Tesla announced it would cut the prices of three of its five models in the U.S. as the company faces falling sales, stiff competition in the electric vehicle market and the recall of nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks due to a potentially fatal flaw with the accelerator.
In a damning blow, Musk also announced Tesla would axe 10 percent of its global workforce of roughly 140,000 earlier this month, claiming the layoffs would ‘enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.’
Employees at the automaker received emails over the weekend as part of broader layoffs – marking the fourth week similar emails were sent to staff, according to an Electrek report.
Tesla, whose shares were up more than 1 percent, has not publicly commented on the layoffs.