Tesla plans to pay $25 an hour at Gigafactory

Greg Gardner | Detroit Free Press

Tesla Motors plans to pay an average hourly wage of $25 at its huge battery factory under construction near Reno, Nev., the head of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada said.

That is higher than nearly all automakers in the U.S. are paying new hires and nearly double what most parts suppliers pay. It's also above the $17 starting hourly wage of Tesla workers who assemble its Model S sedan in Fremont, Calif., near San Jose.

Electric-car maker Tesla is building a massive battery plant called the Gigafactory in the desert east of Reno, and is planning to hire 6,500 workers over the next eight years.

In the Sunday edition of the Reno Gazette-Journal, Mike Kazmierski, CEO of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, said Tesla's pay scale is driving up what existing and new employers in the area are paying.

"Three years ago, a support call center paid $10, $11, $12 an hour," Kazmierski said. "We're basically saying, if you're not paying $12 to $15 an hour, you probably will go somewhere else. That's part of the reason why we talk retention of workforce as a priority for us."

Last October, the Reno newspaper reported that the majority of Tesla workers -- about 4,750 -- will start at $22.79, while about 820 equipment and quality technicians will start at $27.88 an hour. Engineers and senior staff will be paid $41.83 per hour.