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.
I’ve been arguing the Q1 result was cooked. The actual result is probably way worse. One of the reasons is that Tesla has been producing way to many cars, and the cars on stock are probably overvalued to push the deficit into the future. Where they probably hope to camouflage the loss in other ways.
But competition is intensifying, and Tesla is already at a very low margin on each car sold. Increased competition is at a point where Tesla will have to sell cars at a deficit. While at the same time write off value on stock. Or alternatively lose even more marketshare.
The glory days where Tesla had the highest margin per car sold in the industry are long gone.The beginning of the end
Definitely because no one’s buying them. Elon is not generous with time off.
If anyone still has Tesla stock it’s probably a good time to sell.
Anyone who has a 401k likely has Tesla stock, unfortunately.
If anyone still owns a Tesla it’s probably a good time to sell it.
…as parts.
Looks like they arent paying their workers for the time either. Sounds like things are going really well there. I wonder if the workers who fall below 32 hours per week will get their full time benefits (like health care) cut. I’d bet yes.
The article says it is paid…
Edit: TIL that PTO means different in the US. Thanks for the explanations and downvotes 👍
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.
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.
Take paid time off (PTO) means take your vacation time (or combined vacation/sick time). Otherwise no one would pick the “come in and clean or train” option.
I once worked at a place where every year they shut down the week between Christmas and New Year’s and you had to take a week of your vacation time then whether you wanted to or not (and we only got 2 weeks/yr). I started working there the first week of December, so I was immediately in the hole for 1 week of vacation time. It was such bullshit.
The article says it is paid…
Well, yes and no. I mean, they get a paycheck if they use paid time off, but they’d need to use some of their supply of that, which is going to compete with things like time off for being sick, going on vacation, etc.
Imagine having a set number of days for being sick…
Better not get sick more than usual or you fucked, what a country, the american dream
A sign of strong and healthy demand
This is just how Musk makes an organization “efficient”.
Cut to tomorrow’s video of him carrying out their staff lockers to sell on Facebook Marketplace for $45
Well yeah, I mean without the whole embezzlement of personal data from various departments thing. Hes already got that.
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.
I mean, you’d be stupid to not come in, right? Who wants an involuntary unpaid vacation?
And oh yeah, we’re not using dollars any more, you get paid in CT’s now
I’ve done it before. When we were working 64 hour weeks? Fuck yeah I’m taking that time off. It also said they could use PTO. The thing is, everywhere I’ve ever worked, there was never just “one week” of it off. It’s like one week every 4-6 weeks as it’s slowing down. Hell, I’m on one now. It’s basically to avoid layoffs and losing experienced workers.
Also, when you get a week off like that, it’s considered a layoff. So you can apply for unemployment for that time. If you keep calling in and reporting your working hours during the time that you’re back, you don’t have to refile for the next time it happens. Which will happen again in a couple weeks/months. The weird thing to me is that this is being reported on. It happens all the time, it could be for inventory adjustment, or because they’re having problems procuring parts due to tariffs. Or retooling/maintenance.
My point is, this doesn’t mean a whole lot as of yet. If it happens several more times over the coming months, then that means something. Especially since the stock isn’t going down like it was.
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.
Setting aside the Musk/Trump shennanigans and their impact on the Tesla brand as a whole, though…they’re also talking about the Cybertruck.
I can believe that maybe they keep demand for the Model Y at a sustained long-term level, but I have a hard time believing that the Cybertruck is going to take off. I mean, if there’s enough commonality across lines, then maybe they can use the Cybertruck workers elsewhere, but I just don’t think that the Cybertruck is going to become a big success.
Like, at some point, they gotta cut their losses on that thing.
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/tesla-cybertruck-sales-musk-b2746688.html
Tesla Cybertruck sales underperformed in Q1, dropping more than 50 percent compared to sales in Q4 of 2024, reflecting a larger theme for the electric vehicle maker, which has faced market volatility and decreasing sales as its CEO has taken a role in the Trump administration.
In the last quarter, Tesla sold roughly 6,400 Cybertrucks – more than double the number from the same time last year but significantly fewer than the 12,900 sold in the final quarter of 2024, according to research firm Cox Automotive.
It’s the second consecutive quarter Tesla has seen a dip in Cybertruck sales. Sales peaked during Q3 of 2024 with roughly 16,600 sold.
The Cybertruck was introduced to the electric vehicle market in 2023, and at the time, Musk touted that more than one million people had paid a $100 refundable deposit to reserve one.
It also dropped production targets for several Cybertruck lines over the last few months, workers familiar with the matter told Business Insider. Production lines have reportedly also been thinned out; now, some are said to be working at a fraction of their previous capacity.
None of that surprises me. The cyber truck is a flop so it makes sense to “inventory adjust” a week for them. And you can likely expect that trend to continue. Nice of them to give time off for their workers to enjoy the spring weather, right? 😉
The model Y just got a facelift, though. And whenever that happens, there are hiccups. That being said, you would think production would be going full bore for it from generated excitement from the refresh.They could have found a flaw that stopped production while they fix the issue, or it could be that the excitement that they expected isn’t there. Knowing Tesla, it’s likely both.
What you quoted says “paid time off”
Edit: TIL that PTO means different in the US. Thanks for the explanations and downvotes 👍
Paid time off (PTO) is what American companies call paid vacation because they don’t offer paid sick leave. You have to use vacation time if you want to get paid for a sick Day
Yes, which likely comes from their annual leave. Otherwise, why offer an alternative?
I’m predicting the breaking news story for June 2nd is they find out they’re fired.
Happened to me there, though not as long. Friday, they told everyone on the line I worked on (S) most of us were being let go, but a few of us (myself included) were told we were staying. Fast-forward to Monday, they called me while half-way to work (this was in Fremont and I live in the central valley, so it was a 2 hour drive without traffic; which is never going to happen on the Altamonte) to say they actually let everyone go.
That really sucks. I’m not sorry for Tesla, but I’m sorry for the workers caught up in the shit show.
a real George Bluth Sr. move
Fire Tom, and get your jackass brother out of here.
So an indefinite furlough… got it.
Didn’t Trump’s tariffs remove the unfair advantage of foreign cars so now superior US-made cars dominate the free market because they’re the best?
And Tesla’s cars, with their Full Self Driving™ technology are literally 20 years ahead of the competition, so why aren’t people buying them??
I don’t understand!I think the answer is over there somewhere.
Photo edited? What’s the icon on the bottom left?
Now THAT is how much power musk has! Destroying a huge ev brand with only one arm gesture! /s
only tesla is not tariffed.
Tesla is competing with itself. 😄
Don’t forget the robust repair network Tesla provides.
And their amazing price to value!
Tesla must Unionize!
Yeah, but Musk hates unions. The swedes are making a big point out of unionizing.
One of the reasons they moved to Texas was to prevent that.
Why? Are Texans stupid?
“Hey Patrick, What am I now?”
“Uh Stupid?”
“No, I’m Texas!”
This SpongeBob joke has lived rent free in my head since I was a literal toddler.
Yes
Awe.
Are you in awe of how stupid they are?
They elect stupid people. Also shitty people. Their labor laws are horribly anti-worker/very pro- company.
Why? There really isn’t a path to profitability now. The brand is dead internationally and domestically.
The end is near.
They just got fired.
They should all immediately go file for unemployment tbh. Even if it’s just for that week, it’s considered a layoff and they can file. It means they’ll be able to start collecting unemployment a week earlier than they would if they wait for the actual “you’re fired” message.
Well shit, I pretty much forgot about them during all of this.
Are they not quitting in mass yet?
The job market in Austin is shit right now. Anybody with a soul at Tesla likely can’t afford to go job-hunting right now.
It sounds like they may not have a choice in that matter soon enough.
