Tesla has reportedly laid off hundreds of employees, including senior executives and a majority of its Supercharging team. The desperate move comes on the heels of a major recent layoff of 14,000 workers, part of what Musk claims is an “absolutely hard core” plan to cut costs at the struggling EV company.
The Verge reports that Elon Musk’s Tesla has been grappling with challenges on multiple fronts, including declining profit margins, increased competition in the EV market, and reputational issues. These recent job cuts come merely two weeks after Tesla initiated layoffs for at least 14,000 staffers, about 10 percent of its total global headcount.
Elon Musk and his comrade Xi Jinping (Elon Musk/Twitter)
Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks via video link during the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. TPhotographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg
According to reports from the Information and Electrek, the automaker’s senior director of EV charging, Rebecca Tinucci, along with most of her 500-person team overseeing Tesla’s Supercharging network, will be leaving the company on Tuesday. Additionally, Daniel Ho, the head of the new vehicles program, and his team have also been let go.
In an email sent to executives on Monday night, Musk emphasized his desire for Tesla to be “absolutely hard core” about the cuts, stating that staffers working under executives who “don’t obviously pass the excellent, necessary and trustworthy test” would also face termination. While the full scale of these new layoffs remains uncertain, Bloomberg previously reported that Tesla’s total headcount reduction, which began earlier this month, could reach as high as 20 percent of its workforce, potentially exceeding 20,000 employees.
Tinucci’s departure is particularly noteworthy, as she played a pivotal role in the rollout of Tesla’s Supercharger network during her six-year tenure at the company. Her efforts included persuading other companies to adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS) developed by Tesla. Despite the personnel changes, Musk assured that Tesla would continue to build new Superchargers and complete those already under construction. That may be hard to do after the elimination of the entire team overseeing the network.
Other significant departures include Daniel Ho, a ten-year Tesla veteran who served as director of vehicle programs and new product initiatives, as well as program manager for the Model S, 3, and Y vehicles. Additionally, most of the public policy team led by former head of policy and business development Rohan Patel, who left the company during the previous wave of layoffs, have also been let go.
These latest job cuts come during what has already been a tough year for Tesla. The company’s stock price has plummeted as profit margins sank to six-year lows amid price reductions prompted by increased competition and lower demand for EVs. Moreover, Tesla is grappling with a multitude of reputational issues impacting its brand, including ongoing investigations into its Autopilot feature, a recall of its Cybertruck, and Musk’s controversial behavior both online and in courtrooms.
Read more at the Verge here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
