Tesla To Lay Off 693 Workers at Sparks GigaFactory

According to a report from the Nevada Department of Education, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR), Tesla will lay off 693 workers at its gigafactory in Sparks effective June 14. The notice came as a part of the U.S. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires companies of more than 100 workers to report any mass layoffs or location closings 60 days ahead of official announcement.

The layoffs are part of Tesla’s plan to cut more than 10% of its global workforce amid lagging sales and increased competition.

“As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity,” Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk said in a company memo obtained by CNBC. “As part of this effort, we have done a thorough review of the organization and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally.”

During Tesla’s earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said, “As we prepare the company for the next phase of growth, we had to make the hard but necessary decision to reduce headcount by over 10 percent. The savings generated are expected to be well in excess of $1.1 billion on an annual basis.”

Earlier this month, Tesla announced it will lay off 6,020 employees in Texas and California. The company’s global headcount was over 140,000 in late 2023, according to their company filings.

Last year, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development board (GOED) voted unanimously to approve a set of four tax abatements totaling $330 million over 20 years for Tesla’s planned $3.6 billion capital investment in Storey County.

Tesla contends that the new Gigafactory will bring 3,000 jobs to the region offering an average rate of $33.49 per hour and will cover health insurance for 91 percent of its employees.

As a result of its first abatement agreement in 2014, Tesla will begin paying an annual minimum of $53 million in real and personal property taxes and modified business taxes relating to the Gigafactory commencing July 1, 2024, and in perpetuity thereafter.

Upon approval of the tax abatements, the Chair of GOED Governor Joe Lombardo released this statement:

“Tesla has far exceeded every promise they made going back to 2014. To date, they have invested $6.2 billion in Nevada, built a 5.4 million square foot Gigafactory which provided 17,000 local construction jobs and created more than 11,000 highly paid permanent jobs.”

The Globe has reached out to the Governor’s office for comment on the layoffs at the Sparks gigafactory plant. We will update the story when and if received.