Elon Musk is known for his outlandish tweets and provocative statements. But now the Tesla-CEO seems to have a very real problem: his coffee cups. Yes, you read that right. In the Gigafactory of Tesla near Berlin, around 65,000 coffee cups have disappeared, and Musk really doesn't have all his cups in the cupboard anymore.
In October 2023, Musk said in a heated debate in German: "You're out of your depth." A good nine months later, this saying now literally applies to his own company. At a works meeting, plant manager Andre Thierig made the extent of the problem clear: "65,000! Statistically speaking, each of you already has five Ikea coffee cups at home," Thierig lamented.
The missing cups and the cutlery dilemma
The reaction of the staff was divided. Some laughed and clapped, others were less enthusiastic about the implied accusation of theft. Thierig went on to complain: "I'm really tired of approving orders to buy more coffee cups." Due to the massive disappearance of cups Tesla now decided to stop putting cutlery in the break rooms. "Because we would probably become a bulk buyer for knives and forks in the near future," Thierig continues.
Serious problems behind the culinary worries
But while people are arguing about missing coffee cups, there are also more serious problems in Grünheide. Despite the recently approved expansion of the plant Tesla numerous redundancies. Demand for e-cars in Germany has fallen and competition from cheaper models from China is growing. Originally, the job cuts were to affect ten percent of the workforce, but have been limited to four percent. Uwe Fischer, Chairman of the Works Council's Personnel Committee, reported that pressure was exerted on employees to accept redundancy offers as part of the voluntary redundancy program.
Concluding remarks
In the midst of these challenges, one might think that Tesla should be a bigger concern than disappearing coffee cups. But perhaps a key to a more harmonious working environment lies in solving the Tassla gate. Who knows, maybe the search for the missing cups will become Elon Musk's next big mission. Until then, all we can do is enjoy the ironic twists and turns of this story and wait with bated breath to see how Tesla will master both the small and the big challenges.
