Tesla layoffs: Elon Musk wanted Tesla to slash its headcount by 20%?

Apart from declining sales, the company has grappled with increased competition from Chinese car companies like BYD.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wanted the EV giant to trim its workforce by 20%, Bloomberg reported citing a source in the know. The billionaire wanted to cut jobs concomitant with the reduction in vehicle deliveries between the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, the report added. The company said it delivered 386,810 cars in the first quarter of 2024, a 20.1% drop from the previous quarter- marking company's lowest quarterly performance in terms of delivery drop since 2022.

Elon Musk arrives at the Tenth Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California. (AFP)

This comes after Elon Musk announced a round of mass layoffs at Tesla last week in a memo to staff. The billionaire said the company is slashing "more than 10%" of its head count. He added, "Over the years, we have grown rapidly with multiple factories scaling around the globe. With this rapid growth, there has been duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas.”

Tesla's challenges in China

Apart from declining sales, the company has grappled with increased competition from Chinese car companies like BYD. In January, Elon Musk told investors in an earnings call that Chinese automakers "are the most competitive car companies in the world."

Elon Musk on necessity of layoffs

Elon Musk maintained that the layoffs were necessary to keep Tesla “lean innovative, and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.”

"There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done," he wrote in the memo to Tesla employees.