Tesla Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk has ordered his executives to “pause all hiring nationwide.”
The world’s richest man is also planning to cut about 10% of his staff at the electric carmaker based on his “super bad feeling” about the economy, according to the email seen by Reuter.
This is coming barely 48hrs after Musk threatened his staff working from home to return to the office or be ready to look for another job.
According to Reuter’s report, Tesla shares fell 9% in the United States on Friday.
The businessman is also planning on “reducing salaried headcount by 10% as it has become overstaffed in many areas”, but “hourly headcount will increase,” Reuter reports quoting Elon Musk.
“Note, this does not apply to anyone actually building cars, battery packs or installing solar,” Musk reportedly wrote in the email.
The Tesla boss has expressed worries about the risk of recession in recent weeks, but his current email is the most direct.
“Elon Musk has a uniquely informed insight into the global economy. We believe that a message from him would carry high credibility,” Adam Jonas, an analyst Morgan Stanley, said in a report.
On Tuesday, Musk ordered employees to return to the office, saying staff are required to work for a minimum of 40 hours per week.
He said, If you don’t show up, we will assume you have resigned.”
However, there are reports that workers are pushing back on his threats in Germany, and his plans to cut jobs might face pushbacks in the Netherlands, Reuter quotes a union leader as saying.
FVN Union spokesperson Hans Walthie said, “you can’t just fire Dutch workers.” adding that “the union would have to negotiate with a labour union on terms for any departures.”
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