Tesla has revealed plans to trim its on-site staff at the Nevada Gigafactory by up to 75% due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Automotive News Europe reports. This follows news after battery partner Panasonic said it will scale down operations (at the same plant) this week before closing it completely for 14 days.
The Gigafactory produces electric motors and battery packs for the Tesla Model 3, and according to its website, it is capable of employing up to 10,000 workers during peak production. Panasonic alone has about 3,500 employees at the plant. As of now, it’s unclear how many employees will be affected by this move.
Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said it will reopen the New York plant “as soon as humanly possible” to manufacture ventilators for people who have contracted the novel coronavirus.
So far, two Tesla employees have been tested positive for Covid-19, but they have been working from home for the past two weeks and had not been symptomatic at work, Tesla said in an email to its employees. It wasn’t mentioned which unit or what location the employees were from.
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