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Elon Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22 2022. Picture: PATRICK PLEUL/REUTERS
Elon Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22 2022. Picture: PATRICK PLEUL/REUTERS

Tesla is hiring 500 to 600 people a month at its Gruenheide plant and is working with the national employment agency to recruit workers no longer needed at German carmakers, the regional economy minister of Brandenburg said on Monday.

Altogether 4,100 to 4,500 staff have been recruited so far, minister Joerg Steinbach said at a conference, of which about 10% were foreign, primarily from Poland.

“The situation of carmakers in other regions, realising that the production of electric cars requires fewer people than they had in the past, is helping us because we are trying to bring them here to Brandenburg,” said Steinbach.

The Gruenheide plant has been running on two shifts since May 23, and a third is due to start before the end of the year, he said.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CEO Elon Musk told staff earlier in June  that the company would reduce salaried headcount 10%, as it has become “overstaffed in many areas”, but he said later on Twitter that “hourly headcount will increase”.

Reuters

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