EXCLUSIVE: Feeling ‘very bad’ about the economy, Musk wants to cut 10% of Tesla jobs

SAN FRANCISCO, June 2 (Reuters) – TESLA (TSLA.O) He has a “very bad feeling” about the economy and wants to cut about 10 percent of jobs at the electric car maker, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said in an email to executives on Thursday seen by Reuters.

The message came two days after the world’s richest man asked employees to return to the workplace or leave the company.

Tesla employed about 100,000 people at the end of 2021, according to its annual filing from the SEC.

Tesla was not immediately available for comment.

In an email titled “Pause All Employment Worldwide,” Musk said he had a “very bad feeling” about the economy.

On Tuesday, Musk told employees to return to the workplace or leave the company, a request that has already faced opposition in Germany where the company has a new factory. Read more

“Everyone at Tesla is required to spend at least 40 hours in the office per week,” Musk wrote in this email.

“If you don’t show up, we’ll assume you quit.”

On Thursday, Musk also became embroiled in a Twitter spat with the Australian tech billionaire and Atlassian Plc (Team O) Co-founder Scott Farquhar, who mocked the directive in a series of tweets calling it “like something from the 1950s”. Read more

“The recession serves a vital economic cleansing function,” Musk tweeted in response to a tweet from Farquhar encouraging Tesla employees to consider remote work jobs.

In late May, when asked by a Twitter user if the economy was nearing a recession, Musk said, “Yes, but that’s actually a good thing. He’s been spending on fools for far too long. Some bankruptcies have to happen.”

(Reporting by Hyunjo Jin Editing) By John Stonestreet and Mark Potter

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