FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Tesla on Thursday said it would give permanent jobs from Nov. 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 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 said this request had been thoroughly reviewed by the plant’s management, adding German union IG Metall, which has long criticised working conditions at Gruenheide, had not been involved in these deliberations.
Tesla did not disclose how many temporary workers are employed at Gruenheide.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Jane Merriman and David Gregorio)
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