Elon Musk wants to cut 10% of Tesla workforce: report

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants to slash jobs at the electric carmaker based on a “super bad feeling” he has about the economy, Reuters reported Friday.

Musk said he needs to cut about 10% of his workforce in an email sent to company executives, according to the Reuters report.  

The memo, titled “pause all hiring worldwide,” was sent two days after Musk panned remote work and said employees who don’t return to their assigned offices should look for jobs elsewhere. 

“If you don’t show up, we will assume you have resigned,” he said in a follow-up email to the company’s workers. 

Tesla shares tumbled more than 7% Friday on the report about anticipated layoffs. U.S. regulators are also probing Tesla over complaints that its electric vehicles are braking for no reason.

Tesla employs roughly 100,000 people worldwide, according to a May filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A 10% workforce reduction would result in roughly 10,000 layoffs.

The report comes as other tech companies reverse their hiring plans amid economic uncertainty. Meta, Uber and Twitter have slowed or paused hiring, while Netflix, Peloton and Robinhood are laying off workers. 

Shares tumbling

Tesla’s stock has lost nearly one-third of its value since early April, shortly after Musk first suggested that he wanted to buy Twitter.

Tesla shares fell $55.66, or 7.2%, to $719.34 in early trading Friday. Shares were trading around $1,150 just two months ago.

Also Friday, government regulators reported that more than 750 Tesla owners have complained that cars operating on the automaker’s partially automated driving systems have suddenly stopped on roadways for no apparent reason.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed the number in a detailed information request letter to Tesla that was posted on the agency’s website.

It’s the fourth formal investigation of the Texas automaker in the past three years, and NHTSA is supervising 23 Tesla recalls since January of 2021.