New hires at Tesla's German factory reveal what it's like to interview with Elon Musk's company — and why they're leaving competitors for less paySchnittmann has had a good stint at Daimler. He worked his way up to a well-paid position at the automaker with a gross annual income of around €100,000 ($122,540)— and that doesn't include the many extra perks Daimler offers its employees.
But it's over now. Schnittmann has accepted the "golden handshake" from Daimler CEO Ola Källenius.
The "golden handshake" is part of a major severance program at Daimler — the group wants to reduce "the surplus of engineers" that are becoming more and more dispensable.
At just over 40, he'll be receiving a severance package of somewhere in the region of $307,000 (€250,000).
Schnittmann said applied to Tesla in the summer and was successful. In fact, a number of his former colleagues had done the same.
"Daimler's severance program is a blessing for Tesla," the ex-Daimler employee said. "The Americans need good, experienced engineers — Daimler is essentially handing over its top-trained staff to its competitor. What they were thinking at HQ is a mystery to me."
At Tesla, he's now working in the same role for around a quarter less of his previous annual salary. He gets neither Christmas nor vacation bonuses nor any other income supplements from Tesla.
But Tesla still has a tempting offer to lure in new staff members: Schnittmann said the company offers staff a shares package they can freely dispose of after four years with the company
When is the last time we had a major brain drain from legacy businesses to tech? Google, FB, Amazon, Apple, ...