Tesla will expand headcount at its Grünheide gigafactory near Berlin by 1,000 employees by the end of June, a company spokesperson said, as the automaker prepares to lift weekly vehicle production by about 20% from the third quarter. The planned capacity increase is a direct response to rising demand for the Model Y, the spokesperson added.
Recruitment for the German plant is scheduled to begin in May. As part of the ramp-up, roughly 500 workers who are currently on temporary contracts are expected to be taken on as permanent employees over the course of this year.
In addition to hiring for vehicle assembly, Tesla said it has opened a search for several hundred staffers to support battery cell production at the Grünheide site. That battery cell line is scheduled to start production in the first half of 2027, according to the spokesperson.
The Grünheide facility employs about 11,500 people and is Tesla's only gigafactory in Europe. The company is expanding output there even as it operates in a European market where it has experienced dwindling market share, the spokesperson noted.
The staffing increase is presented as an operational response to demand for a specific model, with recruitment activity staged to begin next month and a mixture of new hires and conversions of temporary staff to permanent positions anticipated during the year. Separately, Tesla is planning longer-term hires tied to the timetable for local battery cell production, which has a different start window set for the first half of 2027.
The announcement ties near-term production scaling directly to Model Y demand, while reserving a distinct recruitment track for the forthcoming battery cell operations. The company did not provide additional details on the composition of roles, exact timing of individual hires beyond the May start for recruitment, or how the planned production increase will be achieved operationally.