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.

    • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮
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      28 days ago

      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.

      • AFK BRB Chocolate
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        128 days ago

        That really sucks. I’m not sorry for Tesla, but I’m sorry for the workers caught up in the shit show.

  • @superkret@feddit.org
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    2328 days ago

    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!

    • Chozo
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      3128 days ago

      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.

    • @mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      28 days ago

      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.

  • zqps
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    1328 days ago

    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?

    • @P00ptart@lemmy.world
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      228 days ago

      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.

      • @tal@lemmy.today
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        128 days ago

        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 get demand for the Model Y going, 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.

        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.

  • @CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    Uh oh!

    ETA - I look at Tesla’s stock and scratch my head. Still way too fucking high. It should come down to about 1/20th of where it is at. Toyota P/E ratio - 8.29. Tesla’s: 161.22.

    I mean…WTAF. There is some serious delusion going on with that stock price. Tesla’s “brand” is in the xitter. Are people just hoping that the U.S. government will prop them up at this point? Without extreme market manipulation by the likes of donvict, what other future does this shitty car company have?

  • @kreskin@lemmy.world
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    28 days ago

    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.

    • lazynooblet
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      28 days ago

      The article says it is paid…

      Edit: TIL that PTO means different in the US. Thanks for the explanations and downvotes 👍

  • @Doorbook@lemmy.world
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    027 days ago

    Tesla will announce their new military grade model that the defense will purchase thousands of cars using tax money.

    • @Knoxvomica@lemmy.ca
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      227 days ago

      I mean, maybe that’s a good thing for any future resistance movement? The powers that be using highly flammable / explosive, unreliable, piece of shit glued together trucks that can’t handle a carwash.