Elon Musk Reportedly Wants To Lay Off 10% Of Tesla’s Workforce As He Frets About The Economy

Topline

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants to lay off around 10% of Tesla’s workforce due to his concerns about the state of the global economy, Reuters reported on Friday citing an internal email sent to company executives, a move that could see thousands of workers at the electric car maker lose their jobs amid growing fears of a recession.

Key Facts

Big Number

$233.7 billion. That’s Musk’s total net worth as of Friday morning, according to Forbes’ real-time tracker, making him the richest person in the world. The mercurial billionaire’s net worth has fluctuated significantly over the past two months as the saga over his planned acquisition of Twitter has played out.

Key Background

Musk’s reported call for job cuts at Tesla comes just days after another controversial email allegedly written by him was leaked to the public. In the email, the billionaire reportedly ordered Tesla executive staff to return to work a minimum of 40 hours a week from the company’s office, effectively barring full remote work. Musk did not confirm or deny that he wrote the email and when asked about people who want to work remotely he tweeted “they should pretend to work somewhere else.” Last month, speaking at an event organized by the Financial Times, Musk praised Tesla’s factory workers in China, saying they were willing to work long hours, sometimes as late as 3 a.m. and not even leave the factory if needed. He then took a dig at American workers, saying: “People are trying to avoid going to work at all.”

Further Reading

Exclusive: Elon Musk wants to cut 10% of Tesla jobs (Reuters)

Musk Says Tesla Staff Can ‘Pretend To Work Somewhere Else’ Following Leaked Emails Ending Remote Work (Forbes)