Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in a companywide email this morning, announced that the company is cutting over 3,000 jobs in a “difficult, but necessary Tesla reorg.” The culling was apparently needed to “reduce costs and become profitable.” Musk posted the entire email on Twitter, noting it had “already leaked to the media.” (Musk and the media have been in somewhat of a, uh, spat lately.)
From Musk via Twitter:
We made these decisions by evaluating the criticality of each position, whether certain jobs could be done more efficiently and productively, and by assessing the specific skills and abilities of each individual in the company. As you know, we are also continuing to flatten our management structure to help us communicate better, eliminate bureaucracy and move faster.
Musk’s email noted that the layoffs primarily impact salaried employees — Tesla’s staff is over 45,000 people — and would not affect “production associates.” Production associates meaning the people Tesla needs to continue building the Tesla Model 3s. The email also noted that Tesla is terminating its contract with Home Depot, where it sells home energy products. “The majority of Tesla employees working at Home Depot will be offered the opportunity to move over to Tesla retail locations,” Musk wrote in his email. “In order to minimize the impact, Tesla is providing significant salary and stock investing (proportionate to the length of service) to those we are letting go.” He also noted that the company will continue to hire new staffers for “critical roles.”
