Tesla workers hit with bonus cut despite praise from Elon Musk
Friday, 21 April 2023
A large portion of Tesla’s success in markets like New Zealand can be credited to the output of the brand’s GigaFactory in Shanghai, China. Despite this, those working at the multi-storey 86-hectare site look set for a financial shortfall.
According to Reuters, workers from the Shanghai plant have been told that their quarterly bonuses have been cut by ¥2,000, or approximately $472 on current exchange rates. Workers at the plant reportedly make between $25,000 and $28,000 a year.
The change has motivated numerous workers from the plant to speak out against the cut and against Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Twitter – a platform Musk ironically also owns.
Reuters quoted one worker, who tweeted “please pay attention to the performance [bonus] of frontline workers at Tesla's Shanghai factory being arbitrarily deducted”.
**READ MORE:
* Tesla workers fired after launching union efforts, group says
* Elon Musk says Tesla will move HQ from California to Texas
* Tesla seeks to sell US$5B in stock as Musk moves to Texas
* Tesla picks Texas site for second US vehicle assembly plant
**
It is reported that Tesla supervisors have indicated that the bonus cut was drafted as a form of staff penalty in the wake of a worker death that occurred in February. This despite a subsequent government investigation coming to the conclusion that the deceased was at fault.
What makes the cut particularly surprising is that Musk openly praised those at Tesla’s GigaFactory last year for putting in long hours as the company played catch up following extended Covid-19 lockdowns in the region.
It has been reported that some workers were pulling 12 hour shifts for six days a week. This push hasn’t waned, either, with the factory’s workers continuing high output through the first months of 2022, helping Tesla achieve a record 422,000 deliveries in Q1.
“I think there will be some very strong companies coming out of China. There’s just a lot of super talented and hardworking people in China that strongly believe in manufacturing,” Musk said last year.
“They won’t just be burning the midnight oil. They’ll be burning the 3am oil. So they won’t even leave the factory type of thing. Whereas in America, people are trying to avoid going to work at all.”
With news of the bonus cut breaking earlier this week, Musk has tweeted that he is looking into the cut.
In spite of the Covid-19 shutdowns, Tesla appeared to fare better in 2022 than some other manufacturers in dealing with semiconductor shortages and supply chain issues. In New Zealand’s case, this led to the Model Y being one of the 10 most popular new cars of the year based on deliveries.