Tesla denies mass layoffs at Giga Berlin

The Berlin Gigafactory is making headlines again, but this time for controversial reasons. The German business newspaper Handelsblatt has just published alarming figures: 1,700 employees are said to have left the factory since early 2024, a 14% decrease in workforce. This information immediately prompted a reaction from Tesla Germany, which issued a categorical denial of these allegations.

Let’s separate fact from fiction in this matter, by putting this information back into its real industrial context. Because between media figures and the operational reality of a car factory, there’s sometimes a gap that’s essential to understand.

Handelsblatt reports a 14% reduction in workforce

Handelsblatt, Germany’s leading business newspaper, has published an investigation based on what it presents as internal documents. According to these sources, the Tesla factory in Grünheide is said to have lost 1,700 employees since the beginning of 2024, representing a 14% decrease in total workforce.

The tone of the original article is unequivocal: it expresses concern about the health of the German factory and Tesla’s strategy in Europe. Handelsblatt, known for its journalistic rigor but also for its sometimes critical view of Tesla, presents these departures as a worrying sign.

This announcement comes amid increased scrutiny of Tesla’s activities in Europe, where every move the company makes is scrutinized. But as often with statistics, everything depends on what exactly is being measured.

The unequivocal response from Tesla Germany

Tesla Germany was quick to react, publicly calling this information inaccurate. In its official statement, the company asserts that there has been no significant reduction in permanent staff compared to 2024.

Even more interestingly, Tesla describes these workforce variations as “completely normal” for a factory of this size. And this is where I need to explain a crucial distinction to you: in the automotive industry, there’s a major difference between the total workforce and permanent staff.

A Gigafactory continuously employs temporary workers, fixed-term contract employees, and seasonal staff to absorb production variations. This natural turnover is part of the normal operation of any large factory, and these temporary workforces fluctuate constantly without reflecting the company’s true health.

Why this difference in interpretation?

The key to the disagreement probably lies in the accounting method. If Handelsblatt counted all departures – permanent, temporary, and interim staff combined – while Tesla focuses on its strategic permanent workforce, then naturally two very different narratives emerge.

This nuance is absolutely essential to understanding the current controversy. It’s not necessarily that one is lying and the other is telling the truth; it’s simply that the two are not talking about the same thing.

The context of the global restructurings of April 2024

To fully understand the situation, I need to remind you of the global program announced by Elon Musk in April 2024. At that time, Tesla had indeed launched a cost reduction affecting over 10% of the global workforce.

The stated objective was clear: to optimize costs in the face of an electric vehicle market that had become more competitive and whose growth was temporarily slowing. This restructuring affected all Tesla sites worldwide, not just Giga Berlin.

These departures from 2024 probably explain a significant portion of the figures counted by Handelsblatt. The question then becomes: are these past, already known departures, or a new wave of layoffs in 2025? The temporal distinction is crucial.

This reality also fits into the production challenges that Tesla faces at its various international sites, where the company must constantly adjust its workforce to the realities of the global market.

A one-time adjustment, not a structural trend

It’s important to distinguish between a one-time restructuring and a gradual decline. The one-time adjustment in 2024 was a response to specific market conditions, not a symptom of a structural problem at Giga Berlin.

The industrial context was clear: a temporary slowdown in EV market growth in 2024, increased competition, and the need to improve profitability. These are challenges that any automotive company must face.

Giga Berlin is focusing on expansion, not contraction

What makes the current rumors even more surprising is that André Thierig, director of the Berlin factory, recently announced a production increase planned for 2026. These 2026 targets are incompatible with a sustainable and significant reduction in workforce.

Investments are currently underway at the Grünheide site, and plans for expanding production capacities are being maintained. How can one imagine that a factory preparing to produce more would massively reduce its permanent teams? It’s simply contradictory.

Especially since Giga Berlin will have to manage the production of future Tesla models to be produced in Europe, which will, on the contrary, require maintained or even reinforced workforces in the coming years.

These positive signals about the real health of the German factory contradict the idea of an ongoing decline. They rather suggest that past adjustments were indeed temporary, and that the medium-term trajectory remains oriented towards growth.

Analysis by industry observers

Alex Voigt, an analyst specializing in the automotive industry, offers a balanced perspective on this controversy. He emphasizes the importance of the temporal distinction: the reductions of 2024 should not be confused with the current situation in 2025.

According to him, industrial cycles in the automotive industry are perfectly normal. Any large factory experiences phases of adjustment, followed by phases of expansion. This is not a sign of weakness, but of adaptive management.

The position of serious industry observers is clear: it’s necessary to distinguish proven facts from alarmist interpretations. Between sometimes critical media and Tesla’s optimistic communication, the reality is usually somewhere in the middle, requiring a nuanced analysis.

Ultimately, this debate between media figures and operational reality perfectly illustrates the complexity of industrial information. The production targets announced for 2026 remain the best indicator of Giga Berlin’s true health. They suggest a positive trajectory rather than a decline.

Workforce fluctuations are absolutely normal in the automotive industry, especially for a factory as recent as Grünheide, which is still in the process optimization phase. As confirmed by reliable industrial sources, the German automotive labor market regularly experiences these types of movements.

The coming months will confirm the factory’s true trajectory. One thing is certain: I will continue to keep you informed of the evolution of this situation on Tesliens.com, always separating facts from interpretations.