Elon Musk-led
electric vehicle company
Tesla is reportedly planning to reduce its workforce with a fresh round of layoff. According to a report by Bloomberg News, the EV maker has asked its managers to determine whether each of their employees' positions were critical for the company. This alleged evaluation has reportedly stoked fears of layoff among Tesla employees.
The report cited some of the people familiar with the matter who have claimed that the company sent out a single-line query for each job after canceling some employees' biannual performance reviews. However, The electric automaker hasn’t officially announced a new round of layoffs . As of December 31, 2023, the company had 140,473 employees globally.
Tesla facing ‘tough times’
Tesla shares have already dropped by more than 25% so far in 2024. The company recently announced fresh price cuts on its vehicles in one of its biggest markets, China.
Despite a renewed discounting push led by Tesla, new energy vehicle sales in the top auto market recorded its first month-on-month drop in January as demand slows down. The US-based automaker also lost its spot as the top EV maker by sales to China's BYD in the fourth quarter of FY23.
Last month, the company’s CEO
Elon Musk
also warned that sales growth would be slow this year despite price cuts. Moreover, the lowered prices have already hurt margins at the world's most valuable automaker and have fueled investor concerns about soft demand and Chinese competition.
The billionaire is known for this uncompromising approach. In 2022, Musk issued ultimatums to Twitter’s (now X) staff and emphasized adherence to his "hardcore" ethos.
In February 2023, Tesla reportedly sacked dozens of employees in New York citing their involvement in labeling data for the Autopilot driver-assistance system. The company also denied allegations that these terminations were linked to a union campaign that was announced that same week.
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