The Chief Executive Officer of Tesla Inc.,Elon Musk, has taken notice of the high absenteeism rates that have been seen at the company’s sole automobile manufacturing facility located in Europe.
Elon Musk stated in a post on X that he is investigating the matter after a user of the social networking service shared an article from Handelsblatt.
According to the newspaper, the percentage of workers at Tesla’s Grunheide factory who complained of being sick increased to 17% in August.
This figure is more than three times higher than the average for the German automobile industry in the previous year.
Since the beginning of this year, Tesla has repeatedly halted production at the plant. Claiming a variety of concerns. Including demonstrations against the company’s expansion of the factory as well as disruptions in the supply chain.
Furthermore, the automobile manufacturer has been experiencing difficulties due to a decrease in demand. As evidenced by the 16% decrease in registrations across Europe during the first eight months of the year.
It was alleged by Handelsblatt that plant managers had paid visits to the homes of Tesla employees who have been absent due to illness.
The article cited a recording of an internal meeting that took place the previous week.
There were some individuals who slammed the door shut or threatened to contact the police, as reported by the newspaper.
“The home visits to Tesla employees are the next absurd action against the long-term above-average sick rate” at the factory, said Dirk Schulze, IG Metall’s regional chief.
In a statement that was sent out via email, he stated that the employees of the company also reported “extremely high workloads.” Also, management are exerting pressure on those who are absent. Mostly, due to illness and healthy staff being overwhelmed with additional work.
There are approximately 12,000 people working at the Tesla plant to produce the Model Y. Which was the best-selling passenger car in Europe in the previous year.
