Leaked emails reveal Elon Musk’s less than positive outlook on the economy, and as much as 10% of the Tesla workforce could lose their jobs.
Elon Musk reportedly has a ‘super bad feeling’ about the state of the economy and this could lead to a significant number of Tesla employees losing their jobs. The Tesla CEO has never been one to hold back on personal thoughts, even after some of them led to issues and even investigations by the SEC. In most of these situations, those thoughts are typically relayed through Twitter, the micro-blogging platform that Musk is now in the process of acquiring.
Much of the world has changed over the past couple of the years and the effects of those changes are still being felt today. Whether it is the various shortages, geopolitical tensions, or concerns over the possibility of a recession, a lot of what happens tomorrow, next week, month and year remains uncertain. At the same time, there have been many companies that have benefited during the pandemic. In terms of Tesla, specifically, the company shipped more electric vehicles in 2021 than it did in any previous year.
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In emails and messages reportedly seen by Reuters, Musk is understood to have a “super bad feeling” about the economy. This feeling came with additional warnings that the current staff levels at Tesla are now posing a financial problem. Essentially, Tesla is reportedly not only planning to pause hiring worldwide, but is also planning to trim the existing workforce by as much as 10 percent. As the reports points out, Tesla is understood to have close to 100,000 employees based on a recent SEC filing, suggesting that the up to 10 percent could result in up to 10,000 job losses.
Potential Job Cuts At Tesla
Right now, it remains unclear if the job cuts will happen and if they do, how much of the workforce will be impacted. According to the report, Musk did further explain that those actually building the company’s electric cars and battery packs wouldn’t be affected. Likewise, those installing Tesla’s solar power solutions won’t have to worry about their jobs either. Everyone else, however, could be at risk considering the company has “become overstaffed in many areas,” according to one one of the emails (published in full by CNBC).
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It is worth keeping in mind that, in other emails and messages reportedly sent out recently, Musk made it clear that employees had to return to the office or leave the company. With this new company line having now emerged, and leaked, so soon after the last, the layoff warning could just be a way to indirectly encourage those worried about their position at Tesla back to the office. Of course, if enough choose that working in an office is no longer right for them and leave Tesla, maybe there won’t be a need for Elon Musk and Tesla to lay anyone off.
