Tesla to Cut 10% of Salaried Staff, Musk Tells Employee
Electric carmaker Tesla has grown rapidly in recent years, but Elon Musk, its chief executive, appears concerned about the economy.
Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, said in an email to employees on Friday that the electric carmaker would cut 10 percent of its salaried work force.
Mr. Musk said in the email, which The New York Times reviewed, that the job cuts will not affect employees who manufacture cars or batteries, and that the number of hourly employees will increase.
According to him, Tesla is reducing its salaried headcount by 10 percent because they have become overstaffed in many areas.
Tesla's share price closed down about 9 percent on Friday after Reuters published its article citing a different email that Mr. Musk sent only to Tesla executives.
While sales have soared, Tesla has grown its staff substantially and built new It opened two factories recently, in Berlin and Austin, Texas.
The company employed more than 99,000 people at the end of last year. Just two years ago, it had 48,000.
A request for comment from Mr. Musk and Tesla was not answered.
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, his rocket company, told employees earlier this week that they should spend at least 40 hours a week in the office.
A SpaceX employee was reminded by Mr. Musk on Tuesday that the more senior you are, the more visible your presence must be.
As a result, I spent a lot of time in the factory — so that the people on the line could see that I was working alongside them. If I hadn't, SpaceX would have gone bankrupt long ago.”
The announcement thrust Mr. Musk and his companies into a hotly contested debate about how to restore normalcy after two chaotic years of the pandemic.