Tesla Motors’ main factory will remain open and operating at limited capacity, despite a previous order from county officials that declared the automobile plant nonessential during an area-wide lockdown over the coronavirus.
Tesla has committed to reducing its workforce from about 10,000 people to about 2,500 at its Fremont, California factory, an Alameda County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told BuzzFeed News on Wednesday, noting that despite earlier reports of a shutdown, the plant will remain open. On Tuesday, the Alameda County issued a directive noting that Tesla could “maintain basic minimum operations.”
It’s unclear if Tesla will continue to manufacture automobiles at the plant. Sgt. Ray Kelly, a public information officer with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, told BuzzFeed News that the company will operate with a fourth of its typical workforce, noting that the communications between his office and the company had been “positive.”
“They assured me in a phone call to do a step-down reduction from about 10,000 to 2,500 people,” he said. “The county is very sensitive to what they’re dealing with.”
Kelly did not give a timeframe for when Tesla would its workforce. Tesla did not respond to an email request for comment.
On Tuesday, six Bay Area counties went into “shelter in place,” an order that asked residents to remain at home and many businesses to close. While “essential” businesses including grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations were allowed to remain open, it was unclear if Tesla’s factory fell into that category, and the company continued manufacturing operations into Wednesday.
One factory worker who spoke with BuzzFeed News before news of the worker reduction on Wednesday questioned that decision. They asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing their job.
“Tesla is like a hot box,” they said. “Thousands working in that environment, if a few get infected how easy can it spread?”
While Alameda County deemed Tesla’s factory as “not an essential business” on Tuesday afternoon, its ability to “maintain minimum basic operations” as defined by authorities will allow it to perform activities that “maintain the value of the business’s inventory, ensure security, process payroll and employee benefits,” and other related functions. A spokesperson with the Alameda County Public Health Services office declined to say whether manufacturing cars fit into one of those categories.
In a company-wide email sent to Tesla workers on Wednesday morning, Valerie Workman, Tesla’s in-house counsel, told employees that the company would be operating with workers from divisions including “production, service, deliveries, testing, and supporting groups.” The email, which was seen by BuzzFeed News and first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, noted that employees who weren’t feeling well should stay home and “use PTO.”
“If your PTO balance is low, you can borrow up to 80 hours (2 weeks), after you exhaust your PTO balance,” Workman wrote. Those that exhausted their paid time off options could then take unpaid time off, she later said, noting that “there will be no disciplinary action for attendance based on health or impossibility to come to work.”
Wednesday’s email follows another company-wide message sent by Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday, in which he told employees the would be coming into work and “that the harm from the coronavirus panic far exceeds the virus itself.” That email, first reported by the Los Angeles Times and seen by BuzzFeed News, echoed a similar note he sent to employees last week at SpaceX in which he told employees at the rocket manufacturer that they were more likely to die in a car crash than from coronavirus.
“A lot of rumors are flying around, but, to the best of our knowledge, no one at Tesla (over 56,000 people) has tested positive for COVID-19,” Musk wrote in his Monday note to Tesla workers.
Beyond the factory, an employee at a Tesla service center expressed their dismay with recent communications from the company, noting that they mainly address workers in the Bay Area at the factory or corporate level. The person asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.
“Us in the service centers have received very little information or direction,” they said, noting that they’re still showing up to work despite the seeming lack of customers. “We’ve run quite low on cleaning supplies.”
Caroline O’Donovan contributed reporting to this story.
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Ryan Mac is a senior tech reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in San Francisco.
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