Internal Memo Has Tesla Employees Worried About Layoffs
Tesla has the best-selling EV in the world, but that hasn’t made the automaker immune to cost-cutting measures. A recent report describes an internal memo that asked managers to justify their teams’ employment.
According to sources, the managers had to enter a yes or no answer to the query, which came recently. Some employees saw their biannual performance reviews canceled as part of the move, leading many to speculate that job cuts are on the horizon.
CEO Elon Musk has said that Tesla is “between two major growth waves,” or a trough between the Model 3 and Model Y ramping up and the introduction of a new, lower-cost EV in the coming months. Tesla has spent billions on developing the new EV and warned investors that it has reached the bottom of its ability to cut prices on existing models.
The automaker has not been shy about layoffs, though it increased its employee base by around ten percent last year. Employees at its Buffalo facility got the boot early in 2023, at which time the company said it reviews performance every six months, assigning a score of one to five. Musk has also been notoriously pro-work and anti-union, telling employees at X/Twitter that they needed to adopt his “hardcore” work model or leave.
[Image: Michael Vi via Shutterstock]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Nothing new here. I grew up in a town where International Harvester assembled tons of trucks back in ancient days. Lay-offs were common and went along with sales numbers and seasons. And, yes, there was even a union for the employees that is the same one International deals with today. Because Tesla may do the same doesn't mean anti-union or that bas***d Elon or Jack Sh*t.
Not looking too good for the Buffalo facility. The term is about up on that whole commitment.
Tesla was an aberration. It will soon go away and we will happily live with ICE until end of time.
Tesla is on the verge of further revolutionizing how EV’s are built as they increase Giga-press capacity and tooling complexity.