'I Sacrificed A lot For The Company,' Says A Laid Off Tesla Employee In A Viral LinkedIn Post

Tesla Layoffs: Murillo was among the 10 per cent of Tesla's workforce that has been laid off. In his post, he said, “I sacrificed a lot for the company"

Tesla Layoffs: A recent LinkedIn post by a former Tesla employee has ignited an online discussion about the extent to which employees should be expected to "sacrifice" for their employers. Nico Murillo, who was recently terminated from his position, shared details of his experiences, including showering at the factory, sleeping in the parking lot, and microwaving dinners in the break room. 

He also mentioned a period in 2023 when he used to sleep in his car on weekdays to reduce his lengthy 1.5-hour commute to work.

“At one point in 2023 I was even sacrificing sleeping in my car on work days just to avoid commuting to work. Showered at the factory and slept in the parking lot. Microwaved dinner in the break room,” Murillo wrote in his LinkedIn post.

Murillo was among the 10 per cent of Tesla's workforce that has been laid off. In his post, he said, “I sacrificed a lot for the company. But this is just a small part of a chapter that is ending, and there’s a whole book waiting to be written. I’m only 29 years old and have a lot more career time in me.”

Sharing the turn of events when he learned about his termination, Murillo said that at 4:30 a.m., he opened my laptop and found out that his account had been deactivated. He thought it was just another IT problem, so he didn't think anything of it.

“I usually check my emails while on my autopilot commute to work (1hr 30min drive). The email read: Unfortunately, as a result, your position has been eliminated by this restructuring,” he wrote.

After that, he texted his manager, but he said, "Everyone got it; we'll get more info later."

At around 5.50 am, he tried to badge in, but the security guard took his badge and told him that he was laid off. After that, he sat in his car in disbelief.

“I went from Production Associate, to Lead Production Associate, to being a Production Supervisor. Starting from the very bottom and worked my way up. Learned a lot of adapting to the ever-changing environment, to working with less but getting more done.”

“In the middle of my career, when I was a lead, I met the most funny and humble supervisor named Louie Afusia. Louie taught me about delegating, following up, and finishing through. He used to tell me: “listen to the people, not against them.” I even played semi pro football with him one Spring season. But he taught me a lot about leadership, and i’m glad to have met him in my career at Tesla. He was this huge Somoan USO that had a good heart,” he wrote.

“Louie passed away in 02/2023. He’s gone, but not forgotten. How you make something last forever is you inspire the next generation and then the next. Always leave the place better than you found it,” he concluded.