Tesla's Gigafactory will stay open over Thanksgiving as the company pushes to reach CEO Elon Musk's production goal of 7,000 Model 3s a week.
According to an internal email viewed by Business Insider, most Gigafactory workers will be able to observe Thanksgiving Day, but a few "mission critical areas" will remain open, meaning some employees must work.
"For Thanksgiving, we will be working in Model 3 Module and Pack Production," said the email, sent November 12. "We're asking for volunteers to help us support these areas. Managers will follow up with each critical area to develop the volunteer list."
It added: "All of our hourly and non-exempt team members who work a Tesla holiday will receive 8.0 hours of holiday pay in addition to pay for hours worked on those days. We greatly appreciate everyone who's able to help and in turn will try to make it festive and rewarding for those that volunteer."
A Tesla spokesperson said that the Gigafactory shifts on Thanksgiving were not added to meet production, rather, they were existing shifts. The spokesperson said that if someone assigned to a mandatory shift wanted off, they could potentially swap with a volunteer.
Tesla posted a profit during its third quarter, something it had done only twice since becoming a public company in 2010.
However, the company failed to reach its goal of producing 5,000 Model 3s a week. (It averaged 4,300 a week.)
Now Musk is upping the ante, in part because the company has said it will sell less expensive — and thus lower-margin — versions of the Model 3 going forward, so it needs to increase volume.
Document Inpired from : Business Insider