Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc., has confirmed that salaried staff will be cut by 10% over the next three months. He, however, confirmed that the overall headcount in the EV Company would reduce by only 3.5 % as the hourly workers will grow.
More on the Possible Lay-off
In an interview with the Editor in chief of Bloomberg News, John Micklethwait, at the Qatar Economic forum, Musk said that Tesla grew too fast on the salaried side. The current employee reduction will be from 3% to 3.5%, but the overall headcount will be higher a year.
Over the past month, Musk has been making varied internal and external comments, but this comment has clarified Tesla’s staffing plans more.
Headquarter now in Austin, Texas, the EV maker has grown to around 100,000 employees globally as it hired quickly while building new factories in Berlin, Shanghai, and Austin.
Software engineers and Human Resource staff were affected the most during the layoff, with many caught by surprise with immediate termination. Two employees in the Battery Factory near Reno alleged that Tesla did not give the required 60 days’ notification under the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification act while filing a lawsuit in a Federal court in Austin on Sunday.
The job cuts come after debates about working from home had become a polarizing issue for Musk and the employees. The Tesla Chief issued an ultimatum for staff to return to the office or leave the organization.
Musk wrote in an email titled “to be super clear,” asking the employees to spend at least 40 hours in the office weekly. He wanted the staff to be beside their colleague and not at a far-off pseudo-office. The more senior people were expected to be visible. Musk gave his example of how he lived in a factory where the line workers could see him working alongside them.
The mandate has also caused fear among workers at Twitter Inc. who worked from anywhere policy throughout the pandemic. Before closing the Twitter buyout deal, Musk proposed the idea of turning the social media platform Headquarters in San Francisco into a homeless shelter as no one showed up at the office.
Musk praised the Shanghai factory of Tesla in contrast. Many workers stayed at the factory and kept the production running during the two months of Covid Lockdown in China early this year. Musk said that he was impressed with China’s car companies, including the general ones, as he found the workers extremely hardworking, competitive, and smart.
Musk said that he was not overthinking about world-leading automakers as possible rivals; instead, he was more concerned with the supply chains and his production capacity since the demand for Tesla cars is very high, and there is a long waiting list.
