Tesla, the world’s largest electric car maker, is cutting thousands of manufacturing jobs over concerns about a global economic slowdown. The decommissioning will be completed in the next three months, company chief Elon Musk announced on Tuesday. It’s about ten percent of salaried workers, which equates to 3.5 percent of the total workforce – so it’s not that many.
At the end of 2021, the US group employed about 100,000 people worldwide, so more than 3,000 people would be affected.
The Tesla boss had already informed internally about the plans at the beginning of June. In an email available to Reuters, he justified this with a “super bad feeling” about economic development. A recession is possible in the near future, he now said. Musk at the Qatar Economic Forum hosted by Bloomberg news agency: “It’s not certain, but it seems more likely.” The American electric car pioneer wanted the record level of sales at the beginning of the year of about 310,000 vehicles in the second quarter. Recently, however, the lockdowns in China have increasingly slowed production at the Shanghai factory.
No concrete information about Grünheide yet
What the decommissioning plans mean for the German Tesla factory in Grünheide remained open. Job creation takes place there. A company spokesperson could not be reached at first. The German trade union IG Metall pointed out over the weekend that the working population in Grünheide was increasingly dissatisfied with the low and unequal wages. Therefore, the recruitment of new employees does not proceed as quickly as planned.
“Tesla aims to have around 12,000 employees on board by the end of the year. To achieve this goal, management will soon have to raise wages,” explains Birgit Dietze, head of the IG Metall district of Berlin-Brandenburg-Saxony. According to the union, the wage is up to 20 percent lower than the standard wage at competing automakers in the region.In the meantime, Tesla’s factory management has begun offering more rewards for new hires than for previous agreements.
Lawsuit in the US: notice period ignored?
The job losses that apparently have already started in the US are already causing problems. In Texas, Tesla is pilloried on suspicion of mass layoffs without observing the notice period. Two former employees said they were fired without notice from the Sparks gigafactory in June, according to the lawsuit filed Monday. According to these figures, Tesla put more than 500 employees on the road this month. Under US labor law, 60 days’ notice is required for such a mass termination. “Tesla only informed employees that their layoffs would be effective immediately,” the lawsuit said. The dismissed employees have filed a class action lawsuit. Tesla was not immediately available for comment.
The former employees demand wages and benefits for the 60 days. Prosecutor, attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, said Tesla is offering some employees weekly severance pay. That is not enough.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
