Low wages at Tesla's Berlin factory mean it's hiring much slower than expected, according to Germany's largest union

• Low wages are deterring workers from jobs at Tesla's German factory, a union told Bloomberg.
• IG Metall says skilled workers at the factory earn 20% less than staff at some rival manufacturers.

Tesla is struggling to hire workers for its German Gigafactory, in part due to low wages, Germany's largest trade union told Bloomberg.

IG Metall says that skilled workers at Tesla's factory in Grünheide, Brandenburg, earn around 20% less than staff at rival manufacturers that have wage agreements with the union, Bloomberg reported. IG Metall said some Tesla staff had complained about low wages, the publication reported.

This is stunting hiring at the site. Tesla's recruitment "isn't progressing at the planned speed," regional IG Metall chief Birgit Dietze said in a statement, per Bloomberg.

"Many people would be interested in switching to Tesla, but ultimately decide against it, also because they sometimes earn considerably more in their current positions at other automotive companies," she added.

Tesla didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Tesla started producing and delivering its Model Y from its Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory in March 2022. It said at the time that more than 3,000 people worked there and that it planned to hire "thousands more in the coming months."

The EV maker has said it expects to eventually have 12,000 workers at the site, which is set to produce 500,000 vehicles per year.

Tesla is struggling to hire in Germany, just as it appears to be cutting staff elsewhere. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this month that the company would slash its roughly 100,000 workforce by 10% and said he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy, as inflation rises and growth slows.

Some Tesla workers, including a CGI animation lead, staff trainers, and a regional warehouse manager, said on LinkedIn that they had been laid off following Musk's announcement.