(Bloomberg) -- High rates of absenteeism at Tesla Inc.’s lone car plant in Europe have caught the attention of Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk.
The CEO wrote on X that he’s looking into the issue after a user of the social media service shared reporting from Handelsblatt. The rate of employees at Tesla’s Grünheide factory who called in sick climbed to 17% in August, according to the newspaper, more than three times the German auto industry average last year.
Tesla has repeatedly paused production at the plant in recent months, citing issues ranging from protests against the company expanding the factory to supply chain disruptions. The automaker has also been struggling with a slowdown in demand — its registrations across Europe slumped 16% in the first eight months of the year.
Handelsblatt reported that plant managers have paid visits to the homes of Tesla employees who’ve been on sick leave, citing a recording of an internal meeting last week. Some slammed the door shut or threatened to call the police, the newspaper reported.
“The home visits to Tesla employees are the next absurd action against the long-term above-average sick rate” at the factory, said Dirk Schulze, IG Metall’s regional chief. The company’s workers report “extremely high workloads,” with management pressuring those who are out sick and healthy employees getting overloaded with additional work, he said in an emailed statement.
Tesla’s plant employs around 12,000 people producing the Model Y, Europe’s best-selling passenger car last year.
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