Tesla told Austin workers on its Model Y and Cybertruck lines to stay home for the week of Memorial Day, three workers told Business Insider.
The break is unusually long, the workers said. Production lines were up and running during the same period last year, they said.
The electric vehicle maker notified employees earlier this week. The workers, who are paid hourly, were told they could either take paid time off or come in for cleaning and training but would not be working on the production line.
Tesla deliveries dropped 13% year over year during the first quarter.
That wording is ambiguous, but given the alternative is “come in and do cleaning” my guess is “take paid time off” means workers have to burn their own vacation time if they don’t want to lose money. Otherwise, who in their right mind would volunteer to work if the company is offering paid furlough?
Yeah they’re not getting paid. I’ve been in a similar situation.
Also “give my employees paid time at home while business is slow” sounds exactly like the kind of magnanimity that Elon lacks.