Tesla cuts job postings since Elon Musk’s economic warning

A Tesla service and sales center is shown in Vista, California, U.S., June 3, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Blake

SAN FRANCISCO, June 16 (Reuters) – Tesla (TSLA.O) has cut job openings by 14% since chief executive Elon Musk warned he was worried about the economy, which he needed to cut its workforce and that it would suspend hiring worldwide.

Tesla shares are an ominous sign of the health of the global economy as markets contract, inflation soars and recession worries rage.

The number of job postings on Tesla’s website fell to 5,011 from 5,855 earlier this month, according to data provided to Reuters by Thinknum Alternative Data. Registrations are down 32% from the recent high on May 21.

In addition, about 20 people identifying themselves as Tesla employees said they had been fired, fired or terminated in the past week in online posts and interviews with Reuters. That’s a tiny number compared to the size of Tesla’s workforce, but several have described being part of a 10% job cut, signaling that the company is indeed laying off workers.

Other Tesla employees spoke of a sense of uncertainty about how the job cuts would be implemented and said Musk’s order earlier this month to return to the office and halt to work remotely had made their positions untenable. Read more

Tesla did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The full scope of the job cuts and the extent to which those cuts were offset by additional hiring were not immediately clear, and Tesla remains a sought-after employer with a climate-focused mission and an innovation record that has fueled the surge in vehicle sales.

Tesla, which had around 100,000 employees globally at the end of last year, also canceled three online recruitment events for China that were scheduled for this month. Read more

Tesla continued to hire in some regions, including Germany, where Tesla is ramping up production at a delayed electric vehicle factory near Berlin. The regional economy minister for Brandenburg, the state where the plant is located, said earlier this week that Tesla was hiring 500 to 600 new workers a month and had recruited around 4,500 so far.

‘SUPER BAD’ START TO MUSK MESSAGES

Musk told Tesla executives in a June 2 email seen by Reuters that he had a “very bad feeling” about the economy and that the company needed to cut its workforce by about 10% and ” suspend all hiring worldwide”.

He followed up the next day with a memo to all employees saying the 10% job cuts would apply to salaried workers, not hourly workers. And on June 4, he tweeted that over the next 12 months, employee headcount would stay the same and Tesla’s total headcount would likely increase. Read more

Musk’s warning about the economy has been interpreted by analysts as a warning for the broader auto sector, which has seen strong demand relative to production despite two years of a global pandemic and growing concern over risk. of recession.

Tesla achieved record deliveries and profits despite supply chain constraints, but a lockdown in Shanghai curtailed production. Its share price has also fallen 40% this year, in part due to concerns from Tesla investors over Musk’s offer to buy Twitter .

Others have found evidence that Tesla has withdrawn its job offers in recent weeks. Hedge fund Snow Bull Capital calculated a 24% drop in Tesla job postings globally in the first week of June and a 12% drop in the second week of June.

Julian Cantu, who had worked for Tesla for more than a year in Austin, Texas, said he was told his position had been cut.

“I didn’t necessarily think that would happen to me,” said Cantu, who was paid by the hour.

Cantu told Reuters that several other members of his team also had their posts cut. Some of them had moved to Texas to work for Tesla, he said.

Others who have left Tesla include the company’s country manager in Singapore, the company’s senior representative in India, a market in which it has suspended entry plans, and a senior executive at the company. Tesla’s Texas plant.

Two days before his work warning, Musk said in a company email that he would fire workers who didn’t return to the office, saying making the most exciting products ‘won’t happen on the phone’ . Read more

Tesla, headquartered in Texas, also has US offices in Fremont and Palo Alto, California.

Musk’s blunt order for workers to return to work from the office blindsided some, two Tesla employees told Reuters.

One, a Tesla employee who had been hired to work remotely, told Reuters the mixed messages impinged on the job.

“In most of the conference calls I’ve been on, people say, ‘Did you hear anything? Do you know anyone who’s been fired?’ You spend five to 10 minutes at the start of each call trying to get information,” the person said.

Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Victoria Waldersee; Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Peter Henderson, Kevin Krolicki and Lisa Shumaker

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