Tesla Layoffs Higher Than Their Average in Buffalo, New York

Nearly 300 to lose their jobs at the Buffalo Tesla plant starting in July.

This has not been a red-letter week for Tesla’s Gigafactory in Buffalo. 

The sprawling factory at the Riverbend site has been in hot water since it gained approval as part of the Buffalo Billion nearly a decade ago; after a delayed opening in 2017, the factor, where high-tech solar panels are manufactured, the company leases the massive facility for $1 a year until 2027 while under the promise of keeping 1,460 jobs, at a minimum, in the city. 

The company has always struggled to keep those employment numbers where they pledged to keep them and the numbers took a hit on Thursday, when nearly 300 people were told their positions were eliminated. 

Tesla's Global Layoffs

The 285 positions in Buffalo are part of a 10% reduction in Tesla’s global workforce, which the company attributed to declining sales for electric vehicles. The company filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) outlining the cuts earlier this week as required by employment law, indicating the jobs would be lost within 60 days, starting on or about July 15. 

Tesla Layoffs Higher Than Their Average in Buffalo, New York

For the Buffalo location, which employs a reported 2,032 people at two sites, the job losses represent 14% of the workers here. 

Tesla and Buffalo have had a rocky relationship. Questions about how many people actually work in the building have lingered for years, with the company repeatedly asked to produce employment records that have prompted questions of clarity and validity. 

This also isn’t the first time jobs have been lost in Buffalo as part of Elon Musk’s financial restrictions: Last year, the company cut 4% of its workforce. At the time, the company said the cuts were part of a global reduction in positions and that employees who were let go did not sufficiently improve their performance following a company standard six-month review cycle. However, the timing of the layoffs was deemed suspicious after reports emerged that workers there had started efforts to form a union; Tesla, in a statement, said the layoff notices in February 2023 were given to employees 10 days before those conversations started.

Even after the layoffs take effect in July, the company will reportedly have 1,746 employees, more than it is contractually obligated by the state to have under the conditions of the lease, which remains in place for another three years.