Tesla’s savings plans now also affect permanent positions in Germany. However, layoffs should be avoided when jobs are cut. Tesla is suffering from a pronounced weakness in sales.
Tesla wants to cut 400 permanent jobs at its factory in Grünheide, Brandenburg. The US car manufacturer said that layoffs should be avoided rbb with. Tesla has therefore launched a volunteer program for employees who want to leave the company.
Two weeks ago, CEO Elon Musk announced that he wanted to cut ten percent of jobs worldwide. The Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide has around 12,500 employees. Tesla has already deregistered 300 of around 2,000 temporary workers.
Tesla relies on temporary work
With the reduction of 400 permanent positions, the number of employees will fall to 11,800, according to the company. The ten percent mark will not be reached. In the future, Tesla in Grünheide wants to compensate for fluctuations, especially with temporary workers. “In addition, it is always in our interest to operate our production as productively as possible,” Tesla said in a statement rbb with. “The resulting efficiencies will continue to be primarily accompanied by adjustments in the use of temporary work in the future.”
The members of IG Metall in the newly elected Tesla works council called for the staff cuts to be stopped. Although the trade unionists are the largest faction in employee representation, they do not have a majority.
Deep sales problems
Tesla justified the job cuts with weak sales figures. According to the report for the first quarter of this year, sales fell by eight percent year-on-year and production fell by 1.6 percent.
Tesla is particularly troubled by the – often cheaper – competition from China. The US car manufacturer has responded to the weak demand by cutting prices for its models. But the company’s aging model range and its hardly predictable pricing policy are also criticized.
In Germany, where sales already fell against the industry trend last year, there are additional specific problems. The abolition of the state purchase bonus for electric cars last December plays a role. The factory in Grünheide itself, which was already affected by delivery problems in January as a result of the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, had to stop production again for several days after the left-wing extremist arson attack on the power supply in March.