Elon Musk and the Tesla layoffs: what happens to the electric car manufacturer

Musk told staff that the job cuts will not apply to those who build cars or batteries.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the total number of employees of the electric vehicle manufacturer will increase in the next 12 months, but the number of employees should be slightly changed, a step back from the e-mail two days ago when it was said that 10% job cuts were needed.

“The total number of employees will increase, but employees should be fairly unchanged,” Musk wrote on Twitter in a response to an unverified Twitter account that made a “prediction” that the number of Tesla employees would increase. in the next 12 months.

Musk said in an email to Tesla executives that he had a “very bad feeling” about the US economy and that he needed to cut jobs by about 10 percent.

Musk previously told staff that the job cuts will not apply to workers who build cars or batteries, according to people who received an internal grade.

One step back

In an email to employees, Musk said Tesla would reduce the number of employees by 10 percent as the company became “staffed in many areas.” But “the hourly number of employees will increase,” he said.

According to a US Tesla regulatory filing, the company and its subsidiaries had nearly 100,000 employees at the end of 2021. About 39 percent of the workers were “employees on the production line,” according to the company’s annual report.

Prior to his e-mail address, Musk, in an e-mail to Tesla employees, issued an ultimatum to return to the office for at least 40 hours a week. Failure to do so would be considered a resignation, he wrote.

Musk said the Tesla AI day was pushed to September 30 and said a prototype of Optimus, a humanoid robot that is a priority for the company, could be ready by then and could be launched next year.