Tesla plans to lay off about 400 people employed at its gigafactory in Gruenheide near Berlin. That's about 3 percent of all employees at the plant. Tesla, whose CEO is billionaire Elon Musk, hopes that the cuts will be made as part of a voluntary redundancy program.
Reuters pointed out that the scale of the planned job losses in the factory near Berlin is less severe than in the entire company. In recent days Elon Musk announced the layoff of over 10%. Tesla employees around the world. According to Reuters, this is a response to the intensifying price war on the electric car market, which is forcing manufacturers to reduce costs.
At the end of December 2023, Tesla employed over 140,000 people worldwide. people.
Tesla, GermanyEPA/PHILIP SINGER
Layoffs at the German Tesla factory
“The weakening electric car sales market poses challenges for Tesla,” the auto company said in a statement. The company added that talks are underway with the works council regarding planned cuts.
The manufacturer expressed hope that the cuts at the Gruenheide plant would be implemented through a voluntary redundancy program and not forced layoffs.
The Tesla factory in Gruenheide is the manufacturer's only plant in Europe.
The minister comments
– I very much regret the announced layoffs at Tesla in Gruenheide. However, I am glad that they will be carried out with the right proportions, said Joerg Steinbach, Minister of Economy of the German state of Brandenburg, where the factory is located. In his opinion, the cuts are “relatively moderate”.
The factory near Berlin employs over 12,000. employees.
Information about layoffs in Germany appeared before the publication of Tesla's financial results for the first quarter of 2024. Their publication is scheduled for Tuesday.
Main photo source: FILIP SINGER/EPA/PAP