One reason for the production shortfall is the delay in the planned full third shift system to keep the plant running 24 hours a day, according to a source familiar with the matter. This change was supposed to be implemented in September 2022, but it has reportedly been pushed back. This third shift will require production workers to change their work schedules each day, over a period of seven working days. A number of current employees of Tesla Grünheide were unhappy with this situation, complaining that these working conditions were not included in their contract and claiming that this exacerbated pre-existing personnel problems, says the current employee. They blamed numbers-driven recruiting goals. “HR managers want to meet their recruiting goals, so they will say anything to attract people, but won’t pay attention to retaining those workers,” they say.
A former employee, who left Tesla in September alongside other staff after working there for more than a year, describes sudden and unexpected changes to his working conditions. The former employee, who requested anonymity to speak openly, was recruited for a mid-level position through LinkedIn and signed a contract to travel hundreds of miles to Berlin from a small German town.
Just before starting, the former employee says he received an updated contract with a new job title. The initial job description specified that staff must be “willing to work weekends and nights as determined by the project,” which they said meant occasional nights and weekends in special circumstances.
But without any warning, they received a new job description that required them to work early, nights and weekends. “After two months, they changed my job to a 24/7 three-shift system. I have a young son and for us it was difficult to deal with,” says the former employee, adding that they had no family support available, as they had left their families for work. When they complained about this, “there was a lack of empathy” on Tesla’s part, and the employee claims they reported a lack of flexibility in changing work plans, even when the The factory was not producing cars due to machines not working, with tasks greatly reduced.
Tesla’s attempt to improve recruitment and retention by increasing salaries for new hires also backfired, as long-term employees were paid less than employees who had just arrived and were doing the same work. with similar qualifications. This is generally not possible in Germany’s heavily unionized automotive sector because wages are usually negotiated based on union rates. This led to conflict with the IG Metall union, negative press and accusations from the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations of “threatening the German social partnership model” of cooperation between companies and unions. Tesla received threats of legal action from IG Metall, leading it to raise overall wages by 6 percent, even though the union says inequalities remain.
