Tesla, the EV giant, has announced another wave of layoffs just two weeks after its first round of terminations, when it laid off about 10 per cent of its workforce, affecting approximately 14,000 employees.
According to reports by The Information, the company has let go of two senior executives and plans to terminate hundreds more positions.
Among those affected are senior director Rebecca Tinucci and 500 staff members from the Supercharger team, along with Daniel Ho, head of the new vehicles program, and his team. Additionally, Tesla’s public policy team, led by former executive Rohan Patel, is being dissolved.
According to the Financial Times, Musk has fired the entire supercharger team.
In a memo shared with the staff at Tesla, Musk wrote that the organisation needs to be “hardcore” about costs and the headcount, and that while some executives are taking their jobs and Tesla’s tough phase seriously, most of them aren’t.
Musk went on to say that managers “who retain more than three people, don’t obviously pass the excellent, necessary and trustworthy test” and should therefore resign and work somewhere else.
Musk’s email hinted at further layoffs, stating that any staffers working under executives who fail to meet performance standards would also face termination. Bloomberg recently suggested that Tesla’s total headcount could decrease by up to 20 per cent, equating to over 20,000 job losses.
However, Musk’s dedication to cost reduction has faced scrutiny, particularly regarding his proposed $55.8 billion pay package, which was rejected by a judge.
The judge deemed the proposal unfair to shareholders, describing it as “an unfathomable sum” and “the largest potential compensation opportunity ever observed in public markets by multiple orders of magnitude.”
This recent round of layoffs adds to Tesla’s woes in what appears to be a challenging year. Despite a seemingly buoyant stock price, the company’s profit margins have reached a six-year low. Its most recent earnings report showed a significant 55 per cent drop in profits.
Moreover, there are concerns regarding the safety of Tesla’s Autopilot software, which has been linked to 14 deaths till now. Additionally, the company’s decision to prioritise the development of a robotaxi over a budget-friendly electric vehicle has raised eyebrows.
