No Tesla job cuts for WNY plant

In a statement to 7 Eyewitness News Tesla confirmed that, despite the fact that they are cutting 9% of their staff, no cuts will be coming in Buffalo. 

"Our energy products are critical to our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, and we continue to expect that Tesla’s solar and battery business will be the same size as automotive over the long term. One of the main reasons we acquired SolarCity was to use our Tesla stores to sell not only cars, but also Powerwall and Solar. Tesla stores have some of the highest foot traffic of any retail space in the country, so this presents a unique benefit that is demonstrated by the growing number of Tesla vehicle customers who are also purchasing energy products through our stores. The reorganization that we announced last week does not impact this."

 Tesla also explained that they are ahead of their original hiring commitment in Buffalo with more than 600 employees, and are continue Solar Roof Production. 

The maintaining of jobs was a good sign for many in Buffalo including Assemblyman Sean Ryan, who believes that they should show support for the area following the tax breaks provided to Tesla. 

"They received a healthy subsidy to come into Western New York." Ryan said, "We're not expecting any job cuts in Western New York."

Tesla had not publicly confirmed that none of the jobs in Buffalo would be eliminated until 7EWN received the above statement. Assemblyman Ryan hopes that there will be more transparency in the future from the tech giant. 

"Tesla needs to realize that, with this public partnership comes expectations from the public."