Tesla announced on Thursday that it will hire 500 temporary workers as full-time employees at its Berlin, Germany-based Gigafactory starting Nov. 1, a move the company sees as an “optimistic assessment” of further expansion of electric vehicle production.

Tesla's gigafactory in Gruenheide is its only factory in Europe and employs about 12,000 people. At a recent Tesla employee meeting, union president Michaela Schmitz called on management to reduce the use of temporary workers and increase the hiring of regular employees.

Earlier this year, Tesla reduced its workforce through voluntary layoffs. At the same time, the company did not renew the contracts of some outsourced employees as part of its overall cost-cutting measures.

A month ago, Volkswagen said it was considering closing local factories and laying off employees.

Tesla said, “With many companies discussing layoffs and factory closures, the news that Tesla is converting an additional 500 employees to regular employees is particularly heartening.”

Tesla noted that the request had been fully evaluated by the plant's management, but that the German labor union IG Metall, which has long criticized working conditions at Gruenheide, was not involved in the discussion.

Tesla has not disclosed the number of temporary workers currently employed at Gruenheide.