Elon Musk cuts deeper at Tesla, with another round of layoff notices sent out on Sunday night.
Fourth Week of Layoff Notices at Tesla
The most recent layoffs signal the company's fourth consecutive week of issuing termination notices to its employees. According to reports from Business Insider, managers informed four workers of further reductions within their teams on Monday morning. Moreover, several Tesla employees turned to LinkedIn to express that they had been served layoff notices during the weekend.
One Tesla employee expressed on LinkedIn the gradual reduction of their team since mid-April, followed by receiving a dreaded "Hello Employee" email last Sunday afternoon. Another worker posted a screenshot of her layoff email indicating that her last day was May 5.
Workers at the carmaker previously informed Business Insider that the ongoing waves of layoff notices left them anxious, prompting many to seek opportunities elsewhere. An anonymous current Tesla employee also expressed a longing for reassurance, stating they await another email signaling they are done firing employees, seeking closure and relief from job insecurity.
Massive Removal of Job Duplications
Since Elon Musk announced on April 14 that Tesla would reduce its workforce by over 10%, employees have received layoff notices in successive waves. Musk cited duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas as the reason for the cuts, according to BI's screenshot of the April email. Shortly after the memo was circulated, affected employees began receiving termination notifications. However, some only discovered their roles had been eliminated when they tried to badge into a Tesla facility.
In the weeks following the initial announcement, Tesla's workforce reductions have affected various teams, including recruiters, the marketing team, and the Supercharging team. BI was the first to report that some Tesla recruiters were among those laid off.
Last week, Musk reportedly informed executives that the company needed to adopt an "absolutely hard-core" approach to managing headcount.
Fewer and Fewer Executives Remain At Tesla
At least six executives have left the company over the past months.
The same day Tesla announced its first round of layoffs, two executives, Drew Baglino, SVP of Powertrain and Electrical Engineering, and Rohan Patel, VP of Public Policy and Business Development, revealed their resignations, citing significant "overall changes" at Tesla as the reason for their departures. As a result of the reshuffling, Musk was reported to oversee 35 direct reports, as per The Information.
Tesla had a workforce of over 140,000 globally before the cuts. Notices filed under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act indicate that the company has already laid off thousands of employees at its California and Texas sites.
The latest wave of layoffs coincided with decreased demand for Tesla's electric vehicles when the car manufacturer reported lower-than-expected delivery numbers in April.
