Will Tesla Struggle To Staff Their Gigafactory?
Back in Early September Tesla Motors officially announced that they plan to build their $5 billion dollar battery “Gigafactory” in Nevada. This is seen as a large victory for a state near the bottom of the U.S. in unemployment numbers; however, there are now some concerns. The factory is slated to bring 6,500 living wage jobs to Nevada, however how difficult will it be to staff all of those positions?
A study, conducted at UNLV identified a great need in the Silver State for qualified individuals for so-called STEM positions. This refers to individuals with qualifications in Science Technology Engineering or Mathematics. Those backgrounds are certainly among those necessary to staff the ginormous Tesla “Gigafactory.” The concern is that according to the UNLV report, it takes about 30 days to staff STEM positions verses 24 for non-STEM jobs. It can take 40 to 60 days to staff aviation and software development jobs in Nevada. These stats point to a shortage of qualified workers to fill critical positions. Why does a potential shortage of skilled workers for Tesla matter to dealers? Why should you care?
If Tesla can’t quickly and consistently staff their Nevada “Gigafactory,” they could face developmental delays. The main reason for the construction of the factory is to drive down the price of Lithium-Ion batteries and eventually produce a $35,000 Tesla Model III. A Tesla Sedan having similar quality to the Model S, selling for $35k could represent major competition for similarly priced vehicles, which are sold at dealerships. If that luxury sedan vision comes together quickly, then those zero emissions sedans could be in the marketplace in just a few years. However, who is to say what could happen with Tesla if their “Gigafactory” doesn’t get up and running as quickly and smoothly as possible. Do you think that the Model III sedan will ever cost $35,000? Do you see Tesla Motors as a true emerging competitor for franchised dealerships?
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Thanks for this brief over-view, as a Reno-ite where the Gigafactory is going I am deeply interested in this move, the benefit is that the US labor force is “highly mobile” so I don’t see the local workforce being undertrained as too much of an issue.
Also, if STEM graduates from University of Nevada Reno have stuck around since their degrees then there is likely a large relatively under-employed STEM pool in the Reno area working at best buy and starbucks wondering where all the jobs are.
In fact, somehow, Reno has EY (Ernst & Young) located here and they are a Global driver in capital allocation of infrastructure and “future economy”, all their jobs are post doctorate level advisors to other companies that work world wide to build “Rhodes’ dream of a railway from Capetown to Alexandria” so to speak… that is the spear-tip of Globalization.
How Reno bagged that branch office who knows, maybe they felt there is a lot of potential to “economize” the ancient Mining industry out here which might as well be using Soviet Era computers and machines to mine the gold.