- A Tesla sales employee asked for a 15% increase to the base pay earned by salespeople and vehicle-preparation specialists in an internal email, CNBC's Lora Kolodny reported.
- Tesla salespeople have had their ability to earn commissions cut to a "devastating" degree, the employee, Dare Brewer, reportedly wrote.
- Last year, Tesla eliminated commissions for its salespeople while increasing their base pay.
- Brewer said the base pay bump was "very slight," and came with an increase in responsibilities, according to CNBC's report.
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A Tesla sales employee sent an internal email to North American coworkers asking for a 15% increase to the base pay earned by salespeople and vehicle-preparation specialists following what she called a "devastating" cut to their ability of salespeople to earn commissions, CNBC's Lora Kolodny reported.
The employee, Dare Brewer, reportedly said in the email that salespeople had come to "rely heavily" on commissions for their financial stability, but, as Electrek first reported, Tesla eliminated commissions for its salespeople last year, offsetting the move with an increase in base pay. In her email Brewer described the base pay bump as "very slight," and coming as salespeople have been given more responsibilities, according to CNBC's report.
"We have been told to be scrappy while watching our wages diminish, our work load increase and continuous promises of a better future if we push through now," the email reportedly said. "This future will not come at Tesla if we do not fight for it. The company is doing exceedingly well with stocks and sales but the amount we make has decreased."
Brewer also started an online petition to advocate for a pay raise. She says in the petition that Tesla managers have so far tried to "divide and intimidate" her and her colleagues.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
The past year has been a tumultuous one for Tesla's sales division. Last February, the company said it would close most of its stores, though it partially reversed that announcement a few weeks later when it said it would close only low-performing locations. And in December, Business Insider first reported Tesla's internal announcement that it would merge the roles of its sales and delivery employees.
Tesla has also changed the compensation structure for its sales employees multiple times and shifted from Salesforce to a proprietary customer-relationship-management system.
Read CNBC's full story here.
Are you a current or former Tesla sales employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there or how much you're paid? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com. You can also reach out on Signal at 646-768-4712 or email this reporter's encrypted address at mmatousek@protonmail.com.
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