Tesla's huge 10% staff cuts have kicked off, with ex-employees confirming they've been laid off on LinkedIn

June 15, 2022

Tesla's huge 10% staff cuts have kicked off, with ex-employees confirming they've been laid off on LinkedIn

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this month the company would cut 10% of staff.
Job cuts appear to have started, with many Tesla staff saying on LinkedIn that they've been laid off.
The Tesla staffers posting on LinkedIn come from various departments across the company.

Tesla has begun to trim its workforce in earnest after CEO Elon Musk announced he planned to cut 10% of staff earlier this month as he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy.

On Wednesday morning, Insider found 11 LinkedIn posts from Tesla employees saying they had been laid off as part of the cut.

The LinkedIn posts show Tesla is well underway cutting its workforce, which stood at 100,000 employees at the end of 2021, per a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The layoffs appear to have begun last week and have accelerated. Nine of the posts were published this week while two were posted late last week.

The LinkedIn posts came from a range of people across the company, including a project lead, a CGI animation lead, staff trainers, and a regional warehouse manager.

The Tesla staffers posting on LinkedIn appeared to have a range of experience at the company. The CGI animation lead said in his post he had worked at the company for six-and-a-half years.

"I am saddened to go," he wrote, adding: "I truly did enjoy my job, and I am proud of the work that I've produced."

The job cuts are also affecting senior roles. Tesla's Singapore country manager Christopher Bousigues announced in a LinkedIn post this past weekend he had been laid off as part of the job cuts.

The company also canceled three hiring events in China planned for this month, Reuters reported.

After saying the company would cut 10% of salaried staff, Musk confusingly said total headcount would increase and salaried staff would be "fairly flat."

Musk has said publicly he believes the US is headed for a recession. He also instituted a new policy mandating Tesla staff return to the office for a minimum of 40 hours per week.

Tesla is not the only company making cutbacks. Netflix announced in May it was cutting around 150 staff. Massive companies including Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft have slowed or frozen hiring.

Tesla did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider for comment.

Are you a Tesla employee who has been affected by the job cuts? Contact this reporter at ihamilton@insider.com. Always use a non-work email.

Read the original article on Business Insider