Tesla cutting back staffing at gigafactory, Storey County official says

Storey County Manager Austin Osborne says Tesla has decided to cut back its operations at the gigafactory east of Reno.

The announcement comes a week after Panasonic, Tesla’s partner at the battery factory, announced it was shutting down operations there because of the coronavirus.

Osborne said Tesla has announced it will reduce on-site staff by about 75 percent in the coming days. He said Tesla and other companies at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center are checking employee temperatures, allowing remote work and maintaining workstation distance among other things to ensure employee safety.

In their announcement March 20, Panasonic officials said their portion of the factory is undergoing “intensive cleaning” while closed.