Musk says Tesla needs to cut staff by 10 per cent and pause hiring worldwide, says he has ‘super bad feeling’ about the economy

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the electric carmaker needs to cut staff by around 10 per cent, noting he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.

The email, titled “pause all hiring worldwide,” was sent to Tesla executives on Thursday, according to the report. Representatives from Tesla didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday.

The report comes at a tumultuous time for Musk and the carmaker he made an EV pioneer. Tesla’s stock has slumped 22 per cent since the billionaire struck a shock deal to acquire Twitter that now appears to have stalled. Anxiety about the global economy and the impact of China’s Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai, where Tesla has a factory, have also weighed on the company, which has weathered worldwide supply shortages for components like chips better than most.

Musk also joined the heated debate around return to office this week, urging staff at Tesla to get back to their desks, or find work elsewhere.

“The more senior you are, the more visible must be your presence,” Musk wrote, adding that employees were “required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week”, adding: “That is why I lived in the factory so much – so that those on the line could see me working alongside them. If I had not done that, Tesla would long ago have gone bankrupt.”

Tesla, which has EV factories in the US, China and Berlin, employs around 99,290 staff worldwide, so culling 10 per cent of jobs could equate to losses approaching 10,000 people. The Austin, Texas-headquartered company cut its workforce by 7 per cent – or more than 3,000 jobs – in early 2019, warning that the “road ahead is very difficult” in making electric cars more affordable for the mass market.