Tesla sends employees home for Memorial Day week, but not to remember the fallen
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Memorial Day, or national let’s-all-barbeque-for-some-reason day, as some Americans would believe, often affords employees a bit of time off in May. Tesla is one of those major domestic brands that affords its employees some time off. But, for the employees responsible for the Cybertruck and Model Y, it’s not just a day.
Tesla ordered its employees to stay home for the week following Memorial Day or come in to ‘clean factory floors’
Tesla recently told hourly workers at Giga Austin to “stay home” for Memorial Day week. The automaker said the affected employees could take paid time off rather than continue work producing the newly refreshed Model Y and the Cybertruck.
Mind you, this isn’t the first time Giga Austin employees have had to deal with inconsistent work schedules. Several Giga Austin workers told Business Insider that “their schedules had been increasingly inconsistent since February.” The Texas factory workers also reported that the brand had been cutting overtime, going as far as to threaten disciplinary action. “The break is unusually long,” the unnamed Tesla employees said of the Memorial Day week off.
The move follows disappointing sales performances in the first quarter of 2025. Now, the Cybertruck– that’s entirely believable. The brutish, angular EV truck has been a complete and total sales letdown for Elon Musk and company since day one. Right now, reports suggest that the automaker is sitting on 10,000 or more unsold Cybertrucks. However, the Model Y, at least before its design refresh and Musk’s tanking of the brand’s image, was Tesla’s unequivocal best seller.
Last year, sales estimates for the Model Y put the EV’s performance at around 405,900 units. That number not only makes it the best-selling EV by a commanding margin, but the fourth best-selling vehicle in America, full stop. This really could be a signal of irreparable damage to the brand.
Of course, Tesla gave the workers an alternative. Specifically, the EV marque told its Giga Austin employees that, rather than staying at home, they could come in and train or “clean the factory floors” for the entire week. Seems like a better use of the brand’s new Optimus robots. I suppose dancing will do for now.
