FRANKFURT – On Thursday, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) said it would give permanent jobs from November 1 to 500 temporary workers at its German gigafactory near Berlin, in what the U.S. electric carmaker called an “optimistic assessment of the further development of e-car production”.
Gruenheide, Tesla’s only European gigafactory, employs around 12,000 staff. Tesla said that at the last staff meeting, Works Council head Michaela Schmitz had called on management to cut temporary work and bring more staffers into permanent employment.
Earlier this year, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) pared back staffing there with voluntary staff reductions. It also did not extend contracts for some subcontractor workers, as part of a group-wide effort to cut costs.
A month ago, German automaker Volkswagen said it was considering shutting local factories and reducing staff.
“At a time when many companies are talking about job cuts and plant closures, the news that a further 500 people will be offered a long-term perspective at Tesla in a permanent position is particularly pleasing,” Tesla said.
Tesla stated that the plant’s management thoroughly reviewed this request and added that the German union IG Metall, which has long criticized working conditions at Gruenheide, was not involved in these deliberations.
Tesla did not disclose how many temporary workers are employed at Gruenheide.
(Source: ReutersReuters)
