- Tesla will temporarily lay off some employees in Norway for at least one month at the beginning of April, according to internal email sent on Tuesday by Axel Tangen, a Tesla's director of Northern Europe.
- Tangen said a significant drop in demand and an inability to hold events, both driven by the spread of the novel coronavirus, have left Tesla's stores and service centers in Norway with more employees than they can use.
- This marks the first time Tesla has cut its workforce in response to the coronavirus.
- Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Tesla is putting some employees in Norway on furlough for at least one month beginning in April, according to an internal email sent on Tuesday by Axel Tangen, Tesla's director of Northern Europe, marking the first time the electric-car maker has cut its workforce in response to the novel coronavirus. Business Insider viewed a photo of the email.
Tangen attributed the layoffs to a significant decrease in demand driven by the spread of the coronavirus, as well as government-mandated restrictions on events and other activities.
"In plain terms, our current capacity is higher than the actual work available to us, due to uncertainty and restrictions caused by the coronavirus outbreak," Tangen said. "Sadly, this means that our staffing need will be lower than normal for some time to come. We are confident that this trend will reverse as the outbreak is contained and Norwegians return to their daily lives, but we need to take action to ensure there is a place to work for us all when things return to normal."
Tesla will decide which employees will be furloughed based on the necessity of their role, the amount of time they've worked for the company, and "particularly compelling social conditions" that Tangen didn't specify. All of Tesla's facilities in Norway will be affected, Tannen said.
Employees included in the temporary layoffs will not return to work until May at the earliest, though Tangen suggested the furlough could last longer than one month.
"We will talk individually with the employees affected by the lay-off. Initially, they will be laid off for the month of April," Tannen said. "The employee and safety representatives will meet with management on a weekly basis to evaluate the current situation."
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
The coronavirus has challenged the auto industry like no event since the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. Tesla closed its car factory in California indefinitely on Monday after briefly shutting down its auto plant in China earlier this year. Morgan Stanley said in a March 19 research note that it was confident Tesla has the financial resources to handle the fallout from the coronavirus after discussions with the company.
Tesla has 14 stores and 17 service centers in Norway, according to its website. Norway accounted for 5% of the company's revenue in 2019, and sales there grew 48% from 2018 after the Model 3 sedan was introduced to Europe in early 2019, though Norwegian customers have reported vehicle-quality and service issues similar to those reported in the US.
Fully-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles accounted for 56% of automotive sales in Norway in 2019, according to EV Volumes, a higher percentage than in any other country. Norway's government has promoted electric-vehicle adoption with a wide range of incentives, with a goal of having electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles account for all new-vehicle sales by 2025.
Are you a current or former Tesla employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com. You can also reach out on Signal at 646-768-4712 or email this reporter's encrypted address at mmatousek@protonmail.com.
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