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It's a Mugs Game at Tesla's German Factory

Among the myriad workplace issues and worker strife at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Germany, one of the most contentious subjects for management is the 65,000 missing mugs.


Tesla brandd coffee cup
AI generated image for illustrative purposes.

In a heated staff meeting otherwise filled with safety and pay concerns, Tesla plant manager Andre Thierig was troubled by the tens of thousands of coffee mugs that he said have gone missing from the factory, reports Handelsblatt, a German business daily.


“We’ve bought 65,000 coffee mugs since we started production here. 65,000! Statistically speaking, each of you already has five Ikea coffee cups at home,” Thierig told Tesla factory workers. Adding that he was totally fed up. “I’m really tired of approving orders to buy more coffee cups.”


After several delays to its opening, the Gigafactory began operating in 2022 and has faced an abundance of headaches since then. And now management is having to deal with a coffee cup calamity too. Ikea has not commented on the matter, but is no doubt delighted by its miraculously enormous sales of coffee cups.


Of all the controversies and mess-ups to have taken place at the Tesla plant outside Berlin, this might be the strangest, says The Berliner. And it's not just mugs. Due to the disappearance of cutlery from small kitchens at the plant, cutlery is no longer provided.


The car manufacturer has now introduced recyclable cups.

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