Tesla contradicted a recent report suggesting that it will pay an average hourly wage of $25 to its workers at the gigafactory. In an email, a company’s representative denied talking about the average hourly pay to a gigafactory employee.
Tesla disputes RGJ report
Tesla representative said, “Unfortunately the Reno Gazette Journal got the facts wrong, again,” adding, “We never stated that we will pay Gigafactory employees $25/hour.”
Citing Mike Kazmierski, CEO of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, a recent report from the local Reno newspaper, claimed that wages in the area are experiencing a spike due to the arrival of the technology companies such as Tesla, which has decided to provide workers at its battery factory with an average hourly salary of $25.
The Tesla representative further declined to disclose anything regarding the exact pay of its Nevada employees but agreed that the company filed a request with the State of Nevada last year, describing the estimated hourly wages of its workers to be in line with the general wage trend in the region. Also, the supposed pay scale of an average $25 per hour is very high compared to the wages declared in the UAW contract, which specifies an hourly salary of $15.78 for new workers.
Tesla aims high with gigafactory
In addition, a news report published in October last year indicated that almost 4,250 Tesla employees at the Nevada factory will initially get around $22.79 an hour while technicians and engineers will be provided with average hourly wages of $27.88 and $41.83 respectively. The EV carmaker is building a battery factory in the vicinity of Reno, which will employ almost 6,500 workers.
However, whatever Tesla pays to its employees at its Nevada factory, one thing is certain: the company has high hopes for its gigafactory. Once completed, the facility will contribute to Tesla’s plan of becoming a mass market producer of car batteries. Moreover, the factory will reduce the company’s battery costs by almost 30% and is expected to manufacture batteries for about half a million vehicles in the next five years.
