Elon Musk’s automotive and robotics company Tesla said Thursday that it would hire more than 1,000 people in Germany, a rare bright spot in the country’s struggling auto industry.
A thousand employees will be added at Tesla’s factory outside Berlin by the end of June, a company spokeswoman told AFP, confirming plans first reported by the German press agency DPA.
The hires would increase weekly production by 20%, she said, calling them “a direct response to increased demand” for Tesla’s Model Y SUV.
“Separately, the search has already begun for several hundred new employees for battery cell production, which is scheduled to start in the first half of 2027,” she added.
The news is a stark contrast to rounds of layoffs in Germany’s key automotive industry, where domestic players are struggling with high costs as well as fierce competition in China, the world’s largest auto market.
The Volkswagen Group, which apart from its namesake brand includes Audi and Porsche, is planning to shed 50,000 jobs by 2030, and automotive suppliers including Schaeffler and Continental have also cut jobs in recent years.
Tesla accounts for a small slice of employment in the German automotive industry, with about 10,700 workers currently at its lone factory in the country.
Germany’s largest union IG Metall said last month that it would take the carmaker to court, accusing it of intimidating staff in elections for workforce representatives.
On Wednesday, Tesla reported first-quarter profit at the top end of expectations, up 17% at $477 million (408 million euros), and said it would spend more than $25 billion on investment this year.