Musk Implements Tesla Hiring Freeze, Plans Salaried Job Cuts
Elon Musk issues a hiring freeze and warns of a 10% workforce reduction for salaried Tesla employees due to a "super bad feeling" about the economy.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk orders a company-wide hiring freeze and warns executives about impending job cuts, citing a "super bad feeling" about the broader economy. A leaked email reveals that Musk wants a 10% reduction in the company's salaried workforce, a move that causes Tesla shares to drop 8.5%.
Musk clarifies in a subsequent email to all staff that the headcount reductions apply only to salaried workers and do not affect employees who build cars, battery packs, or solar panels. He explicitly states that Tesla plans to increase its headcount in these essential manufacturing areas.
These workforce directives follow earlier leaked emails ending Tesla's remote work policy, where Musk mandates a minimum of 40 hours in the office. The economic warning also draws a public response from President Biden, who highlights hiring by Ford and other automakers, prompting a sharp retort from Musk linking to NASA's choice of SpaceX for a lunar mission.