After layoffs, layoffs follow at Tesla… even more layoffs

What the hell is going on at Tesla? The manufacturer announced earlier this year that it would lay off about ten percent of its staff, then closed almost its entire Supercharger division, stopped using gigacasting and is now going to cut even more jobs.

“Tesla is going to lay off twenty percent of its staff,” we wrote in mid-April. And the American EV builder is indeed heading in that direction. According to Electrek, which is based on sources within Tesla, it is now the turn of employees from the software, service and development departments, among others.

‘Employment status’ email

They received the dreaded ’employment status’ email last weekend, which means they have been fired immediately and have to wait and see what their severance pay will be (two months’ wages, in most cases).

Tough quarter for Tesla

Tesla has had a tough quarter. The manufacturer delivered 386,810 cars in the first three months of 2024. That is 9 percent less than in the same period last year and even 20 percent less than in the previous quarter (484,507 cars).

Tesla fires 14,000 people, but wants to pay Elon Musk billions

According to Tesla, the workforce has grown too quickly in recent years and an inefficient situation has arisen, for example with duplicate roles. However, CEO Elon Musk recently told investors that this is a reorganization in preparation “for the next phase of growth”.

Uncertainty and confusion

Various Tesla sources speak about the atmosphere within the company, where employees are now suffering from uncertainty, confusion and frustration. A reorganization is quite normal in business, but not in the chaotic and hasty way that Tesla does it.

Like a mafia boss

It’s a good thing that we have dismissal protection in the Netherlands, because several well-informed sources report that Elon Musk fired the head of the charging department, Rebecca Tinucci, and her team to set an example.

Tinucci is said to have objected to the many dismissals within her department, which is why Musk is said to have decided to dismiss the entire department, including Tinucci. This is to put pressure on other managers within his company.

AliExpress version of the Tesla Cybertruck looks like this

Because in an email, Musk then wrote: “I hope these actions make it clear that we really need to be hardcore when it comes to reducing workforces and cutting costs. Some managers take this seriously, most do not.”

In other words: Musk behaves like a mafia boss towards his management team: ‘You have nice people working under you. It would be a shame if something happened to it. So now you do what I ask of you.’