The ‘partnership problem’ Elon Musk has in finding engineers for his ‘tech monastery’: “It was particularly difficult”

SpaceX and Tesla were founded in California but later moved their headquarters to Texas, a decision that, according to Elon Musk, has made it harder to recruit highly qualified staff. The entrepreneur says the change in location has been an obstacle, especially when it comes to attracting certain professional profiles.

The CEO of both companies explained that married engineers, technicians, and scientists often struggle to relocate with their families to some areas of the state. This challenge is even greater at Starbase, SpaceX’s launch site and headquarters in southern Texas, where job opportunities outside the company itself are extremely limited.

In an interview lasting nearly three hours with technology writer Dwarkesh Patel and Stripe cofounder John Collison, Musk referred to this situation as the “partner problem.” At Starbase, he said, it is “particularly difficult” to attract talent because alternative employment options in the area are scarce.

An isolated environment

Starbase, where SpaceX has been developing and testing its rockets since 2019, is located in a sparsely populated area near the U.S.-Mexico border, facing a largely undeveloped natural landscape.

The complex is about a 40-minute drive from Brownsville, a sharp contrast to the company’s former headquarters in El Segundo, California, which was embedded in one of the largest labor markets in the country. Musk described the site as a “tech monastery,” remote and predominantly male.

Tesla faces a similar challenge after moving its headquarters in 2021 to Austin, a city of nearly one million residents. The Giga Texas campus is located about 30 minutes from downtown, and the company continues to keep part of its engineering, robotics, and energy operations in California.

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