The Tesla Shanghai factory workers will be required to stay on the factory floor as the automaker restarts the production right after a three-week shutdown.
Tesla Shanghai Workers to Stay in the Factory
According to Bloomberg, the publication cited people familiar with the matter who said that the Shanghai factory would be operating as a closed-loop system in order to avoid any more shutdowns amid the country's zero-tolerance policy for COVID-19 cases.
The automaker sent its factory workers a memo detailing how the new system would work. The memo stated that Tesla would provide the workers with a mattress and sleeping bag and set aside a portion of the floor to be used as their sleeping quarters.
Tesla also said in the memo that there would also be enough spaces for food, showering, and even entertainment, but the automaker is still in the process of setting everything up.
Tesla also laid out its plans for temperature checks and frequent COVID-19 testing.
Business Insider reported that Tesla plans to give its factory workers an allowance for food of about $63 every day. However, the amount could eventually change depending on workers' status at the company.
The incoming factory workers of Tesla Shanghai restarted on Apr. 18, and they are expected to stay in the facility until May 1.
Workers will also be expected to work at least 12 hours every day with one day off every six days. Previously, they were required to work eight-hour shifts with four days on and two days off.
Closed-Loop System
Tesla is not the only company that will follow the closed-loop system. In early April, The Wall Street Journal reported that almost 5,000 workers at China's biggest state-owned automaker, SAIC Motor, were living at the factory in dormitories while the country was under a strict lockdown.
While Tesla's Shanghai factory does not have living spaces, a lot of the Chinese manufacturing companies have cafeterias, dormitories, and other amenities for the factory workers.
In 2013, it was reported that Chinese workers who assembled Apple's iPhone worked 11-hour shifts, and they lived in on-side dorms at the company's Jabil Factory.
Tesla's Shanghai factory opened in 2018, but it has become a massive part of the automaker's operations. Before the Shanghai factory went into lockdown on Mar. 28, the factory produced more than 2,000 cars a day and contributed to about half of the cars that Tesla delivered worldwide in 2021.
Challenges of Reopening After a Shutdown
The companies in China whose factories are operating under the closed-loop system may be forced to halt work because of parts shortages or logistical challenges that make moving goods and people around the country almost impossible.
A European chamber of commerce warned that a couple of companies are running in closed-loop production right now, and those companies are facing challenges and may have to shut down.
Maximilian Butek, the chief representative at the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Shanghai, said that the workers of the companies who are working on closed-loop production have been working for more than three weeks and may have to be replaced so they can rest.
Related Article: Tesla Giga Shanghai Goes Back to Production After COVID-19 Shut Down: Report
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Written by Sophie Webster
