Some workers at Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s car factory in California are unhappy with working conditions, according to a report from The Guardian. The newspaper talked to many people and some have complained about grueling pressure and sometimes life-changing injuries. Their complaints were about “a culture of long hours under intense pressure” to meet Elon Musk’s ambitious production goals.
The Tesla Factory is a manufacturing plant located in Fremont, California. It is the principal production facility of the electric car maker where around 2,500 workers operate the day shift and 2,000 attend the night shift.
According to incident reports obtained by The Guardian, ambulances have been called more than 100 times since 2014 for workers feeling fainting spells, dizziness, seizures, abnormal breathing and chest pains.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), admitted in a phone interview with the newspaper that workers had been “having a hard time, working long hours, and on hard jobs.” But Musk said that he cared deeply about his workers’ health and wellbeing.
Musk said we are not “just greedy capitalists who decided to skimp on safety in order to have more profits and dividends.”
“We’re a money-losing company,” Musk said talking about Tesla. “It’s just a question of how much money we lose. And how do we survive? How do we not die and have everyone lose their jobs?”
Not all Tesla’s workers are complaining about hard working conditions. “I’ve got benefits, I’ve got stocks, I’ve got [paid time off],” one Tesla worker told the newspaper. “I thoroughly enjoy my work and I feel I’m treated fairly.”
Tesla said that its safety record has been improved over the last year.
But, according to some workers, the automaker does not treat well with injured workers and this discourages them from reporting their injuries.
“If workers are assigned to light duty work because of an injury, they are paid a lower wage as well as supplemental benefits from workers’ compensation insurance, a practice that Tesla said was in line with other employers and California law,” The Guardian reported.
After looking at reviews posted on Indeed and Glassdoor and Quora by former and current employees, we assume that the Tesla Factory isn’t a bad place to work. There are some problems but many workers say they love working there.
Meanwhile, shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) closed up 2.27% on Thursday. The stock is up more than 46% so far this year.