SpaceX, the company of Elon Musk, lays off employees who are too critical


by Joey Roulette and Eric M. Johnson

(Reuters) – SpaceX has fired at least five employees for writing and circulating a letter criticizing the company’s founder, Elon Musk, and demanding action to make the company more inclusive, two people with knowledge of the matter said. .

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that SpaceX has terminated employees associated with the letter, citing three employees familiar with the situation, without detailing the number of those terminated.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in an email that the company had investigated and “terminated a number of associated employees” literally, according to The New York Times.

According to the American daily, Gwynne Shotwell’s e-mail stated that these employees had been terminated for causing other staff members to “feel uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter urged them to sign something that did not reflect their views.”

Reuters could not independently confirm this information.

The letter, titled “an open letter to SpaceX executives,” seen by Reuters, calls Musk a “distraction and embarrassment” to the company.

She calls for SpaceX to differentiate itself from “the personal brand of Elon (Musk)”, ensure that all leaders have the same responsibility to make the company “a great place to work for everyone” and “define and respond uniformly to any form of unacceptable behaviour”.

The open letter, whose existence was originally reported by The Verge, was written over the past few weeks and shared in an internal discussion group that brings together thousands of employees, a person with knowledge of the matter said. , who asked not to be named.

(Reporting Joey Roulette, Eric M. Johnson and Baranjot Kaur in Bengaluru; French version Valentine Baldassari)



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