Tesla Lays Off Battery Workers At Chinese Plant
Photo: Xiaolu Chu (Getty Images)
Tesla is reportedly laying off an undisclosed number of electric-vehicle battery workers at its plant in Shanghai. According to Bloomberg, the impacted employees were notified early last week. Some of the employees have reportedly been given the option to transfer to another department at the factory, such as stamping, painting or general assembly.
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The outlet says that while Tesla uses batteries made by LG Energy Solutions and Contemporary Amperex Technology, the automaker still needs to build these materials into battery modules and packs before they can be installed in a Tesla. This is where the automaker’s battery workshop comes in.
While no official reason for the layoffs has been given, those same insiders say that some automation equipment that could help replace human labor on the battery production line is in the design and construction phase. Unfortunately, this is not terribly surprising.
Bloomberg reports there are about 20,000 staff employees at the Shanghai factory, and it has the capacity to push out about 1 million EVs per year. It’s apparently the source of over half of the Austin, Texas-based company’s global output.
Despite the fact that deliveries from Shanghai rose nearly 20 percent year-over-year in June, Tesla’s operating margin shrank to just 11.4 percent in the first quarter of 2023. That works out — according to Bloomberg — to a two-year low following the company deciding to discount its vehicles in January and again in March.
This all comes from people familiar with the matter inside the factory, but who aren’t authorized to speak publicly. Unsurprisingly, Bloomberg reached out to representatives for Tesla in China, but they did not get a response. That’s probably because Tesla unhooked its answering machine a few years ago.
