Tesla to cut more than 10% of workforce, report claims

Tesla is laying off workers amid poor quarterly results.
By Stan Schroeder  on 
Elon Musk
"It must be done." Credit: NurPhoto/GettyImages

Tesla is laying off more than 10 percent of its workforce globally.

This is according to a company-wide email sent to Tesla employees by CEO Elon Musk. The email was first reported on by Electrek.

In the email, Musk lays the blame on the company's rapid growth, which caused "duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas."

"As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity. As part of this effort, we have done a thorough review of the organization and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10 percent globally," the email states.

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"There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done. This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle," wrote Musk.

What Musk doesn't mention is that the layoffs come after a challenging quarter for Tesla, in which the carmaker's deliveries and revenue fell well off predicted figures.

The news comes after rumors that Tesla is preparing to lay off as much as 20 percent of its workforce. Musk's phrasing (more than 10 percent) indicates that fewer people will be fired than the reported figure, though it doesn't reveal how much, exactly.

Tesla has reportedly abandoned plans to launch a cheaper electric car; instead, the company is preparing to unveil a Tesla Robotaxi in August.

Topics Tesla

Stan Schroeder
Stan Schroeder
Senior Editor

Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.


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