Several SpaceX employees behind a draft open letter asking the company to distance itself from Elon Musk’s eccentricities have been fired manu militari by the firm.
In an open letter, employees of the SpaceX company complained about Elon Musk’s behavior in public which, according to them, affects the company’s teams. Thursday afternoon, the company decided to dismiss several signatories of this letter.
Elon Musk, a shame for SpaceX employees
The letter qualifies Elon Musk’s eccentricities as “ a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment, especially in recent weeks “.
” As CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is considered the face of SpaceX – every tweet sent by Elon is a de facto public statement by the company. It is essential to make it clear to our teams and our potential talent pool that its message does not reflect our work, our mission or our values “, say the signatories of the letter.
The document also cites the policy “ No Asshole (No asshole) from SpaceX, thus implying that Musk could have behaviors of “ asshole ” in public. The employees ask the firm to dissociate itself from the words of its boss, “ publicly addressing and condemning Elon’s prejudicial behavior on Twitter “.
SpaceX doesn’t have time to deal with complainers, says its president
The reaction of SpaceX officials was not long in coming. Gwynne Shotwell, the company’s president, emailed several of the employees behind the letter that they no longer work for SpaceX.
The New York Times and The Verge were able to read this e-mail, in which Shotwell tries to justify this decision. ” The letter, the solicitations and the general process made employees uncomfortable, they felt intimidated, harassed and/or angry because the letter made them sign something that did not reflect their point of view “, reacted the president.
” We have too much critical work to do, and we don’t need this kind of excessive activism “, she added.
According to an employee involved in writing the letter, the general feeling at SpaceX regarding this reaction is that management is doing the ” deaf ears to hide real problems. She explains that the process of writing the letter took a month, to be sure to reflect the opinion of the majority of the company.
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Source : The Verge
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