--- title: "Elon Musk Forced Employees to Work Over Holiday Weekend Amid SpaceX Bankruptcy “Disaster”" description: "It looks like Elon Musk is placing the burden of SpaceX's imminent bankruptcy squarely on the shoulders of his employees." date: "2021-11-30" modified: "2021-11-30" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-forced-employees-work-over-holiday-weekend-bankruptcy" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Space" - "SpaceX" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "bankruptcy" - "elon musk" - "raptor engine" - "SpaceX" --- # Elon Musk Forced Employees to Work Over Holiday Weekend Amid SpaceX Bankruptcy “Disaster” ![It looks like Elon Musk is placing the burden of SpaceX's imminent bankruptcy squarely on the shoulders of his employees.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* It looks like Elon Musk is placing the burden of [SpaceX's imminent bankruptcy]() squarely on the shoulders of his employees, as new leaked emails reveal that he expected them to work through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. "Unless you have critical family matters or cannot physically return to Hawthorne," Musk wrote in [an email obtained by *Space Explored*](), "we will need all hands on deck to recover from what is, quite frankly, a disaster." In the email, [subsequently confirmed by CNBC](), the SpaceX and Tesla CEO said that although he "was going to take this weekend off, as my first weekend off in a long time," he will instead "be on the Raptor line all night and through the weekend" — before suggesting that his employees must do the same as well. As *Space Explorer* previously reported, the company's much-ballyhooed Raptor engines are the source of its possible bankruptcy — or rather, stalled progress on the engines is the problem. When describing the issue, Musk seemed to allude to the exit of Will Heltsley, SpaceX's former propulsion VP who [left earlier in November]() over the same problem with the Raptor engines. "Unfortunately, the Raptor production crisis is much worse than it had seemed a few weeks ago," the CEO wrote. "As we have dug into the issues following the exiting of prior senior management, they have unfortunately turned out to be far more severe than was reported. There is no way to sugarcoat this." There's little doubt that SpaceX employees make their living in a [difficult workplace](). When they're not [dodging layoffs](), the company has also been subject to [alleged labor law violations]() such as being asked to work off the clock and barred from taking lunch breaks. And none of that holds a candle to Tesla, where Musk [has been accused]() of meltdowns and on-the-spot firings. While he may not be the Steve Jobs of the commercial space industry, the prevailing presumption among Musk-watchers is that he's [quite hard to work with]() — and as this leaked email shows, that suspicion may be justified. **More on SpaceX:** [*In Leaked Email, Elon Musk Says SpaceX Is Facing Bankruptcy*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()