Tesla's fourth week of layoffs has seen more staff post on LinkedIn about their departures. The newest round of layoffs affected Tesla's software, services, and engineering departments.
Affected employees received notices of weekend and early-week layoffs. According to The Verge, at least seven employees wrote about their layoffs on Sunday.
The layoffs began last month, targeting 10% of Tesla's 140,000 global staff. The layoffs impacted Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla's head of EV charging, Daniel Ho, head of the new cars program, and their respective teams.
Tesla's Revenue Drops
Tesla CEO Elon Musk stressed the need for periodic restructuring in internal emails, advocating strict steps to optimize operations. Musk wanted to cut at least 20% of the staff, citing a decline in quarterly vehicle deliveries.
Tesla's earnings fell 55% year over year due to falling sales and increased competition, notably in the US and China. Despite these difficulties, Musk has been focusing on Tesla's autonomous car goals, predicting the launch of a fully driverless robotaxi later this year.
Tesla lost at least six executives in the previous month, indicating leadership changes. Drew Baglino, Senior Vice President of Powertrain and Electrical Engineering, and Rohan Patel, Vice President of Public Policy and Business Development, resigned.
He stated that his decision to leave Tesla was due to "overall changes." After the restructure, CEO Elon Musk now manages 35 direct subordinates, according to the information.
Tesla had around 140,000 employees worldwide before these adjustments. The company announced thousands of job cuts in California and Texas under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
The new layoffs correspond with a drop in Tesla electric vehicle sales. Its April delivery results were lower than expected, suggesting market problems.
Tesla's workforce reduction coincides with reductions in tech industry workers, per Electrek. As corporations maintain profitability, a game of follow-the-leader appears to be the industry norm.
(Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) In an aerial view, a Tesla car parked in a lot at a Tesla service facility on April 24, 2024, in Fremont, California.
What Happened?
According to a Business Insider article, industry observers attribute the lag in electric vehicle adoption to poor charging infrastructure and a lack of inexpensive EVs. These issues highlight a larger problem: the US' EV strategy has been wrong.
Instead of seeing EVs as part of a sustainable transportation plan, the focus has been on replacing gas-powered vehicles one-for-one.
This basic approach fails to handle the intricacies of transportation, endangering emissions objectives and leaving other transportation challenges unaddressed.
Edward Niedermeyer, author of "Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors," exposed the primary narrative fault. He stressed that smoothly replacing gas automobiles with EVs ignores significant distinctions.
Miscalculations, particularly regarding vehicle size, have plagued EV adoption. In recent decades, the US car industry has produced larger automobiles due to profit margins and legal requirements.
Size inflation has caused people to choose larger automobiles for safety, encouraging automakers to increase vehicle sizes.
Consequently, the phase-out of smaller models has escalated safety concerns and diminished the benefits of emissions regulation.
The report pointed out that bigger EVs demand bigger batteries, which require more raw materials. This prompts EV makers to increase their ecologically damaging mining activities.
While larger batteries allow drivers to drive farther between charges, they also add weight to EVs, making them more costly and risky.
