Two weeks ago, Tesla begun reducing its workforce by 10 per cent, a move that has impacted at least 14,000 of its employees. Now, even more pink slips are coming.
Frustrated by falling sales and the pace of job cuts so far, Elon Musk is thinning Tesla’s senior management and laying off hundreds more employees, The Information reported on Tuesday (April 30), citing an email sent by the CEO to senior executives.
These layoffs will impact Tesla’s entire Supercharger team, including senior director Rebecca Tinucci and 500 staffers, as well as its entire public policy team. Daniel Ho, the head of Tesla’s new vehicles program, was also laid off, along with his team.
“Hopefully these actions are making it clear that we need to be absolutely hard core about headcount and cost reduction,” Musk wrote in the e-mail. “While some on exec staff are taking this seriously, most are not yet doing so.”
This could also just be the beginning of the worst for Tesla employees. In his email, Musk also said that any staffers working under executives who “don’t obviously pass the excellent, necessary and trustworthy test” would also get cut.
When the dust settles, Tesla’s headcount could be reduced by as much as 20 percent, according to Bloomberg, amounting to over 20,000 employees.
Amid slumping sales, this year has been quite a tumultuous year for the automotive giant. Its once-dominant position in China’s electric vehicle market is now under assault as it confronts unprecedented local competition amid weakened consumer sentiment.
In April, the company reported a nine per cent drop in revenue in the first quarter, marking its steepest year-over-year decline since 2012.
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