I assumed it must've been the non-manufacturer people who loved it. Because there have been an absurd amount of complaints from the people in manufacturing.

I guess, it could be awful at Tesla, but maybe GM is even worse?

I know GM had a REALLY bad reputation in the days of the NUMMI plant.

Note that "Software Engineer" is likely a small and skewed percentage of Tesla let alone GM employees :).

I think it just depends on if you like the kool-aid there. If you embrace their mission statement as your own, then other concerns might factor less for you.

given the job market, while it may 'suck', clearly nobody is making them stay. i.e. may suck on a day-to-day basis, but get rewarded richly after x amount of time

Almost anybody can complain about their job, but in this industry, in this job market right now - anyone staying is staying because the pluses outweigh the minuses.