Tesla Will Reportedly Lay Off 10% Of Employees, Pause Hiring

Tesla is looking to lay off 10% of its workforce and pause hiring, Reuters reported Friday.

CEO Elon Musk said in an email to executives that he had a “super bad feeling about the economy,” Reuters reported. Along with plans for layoffs, Musk said the company will pause hiring worldwide. The company has around 100,000 employees, per Reuters.

Tesla joins companies such as Instacart and Uber in slowing down or pausing hiring plans amid a volatile stock market. News broke last week that Instacart is slowing down hiring as it focuses on profitability ahead of its IPO, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told employees last month that the company will cut down on spending and view hiring as a “privilege.”

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Several other tech companies have started laying off staff as well, with companies such as Bolt, Netflix and PayPal slashing their workforces. You can read more about the U.S.-based tech companies that have had layoffs this year here.

Tech stocks have been hit particularly hard during the economic downturn, which has been fueled by rising interest rates, inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Tesla’s stock was down around 40% on Friday from the beginning of the year.

Musk’s email detailing Tesla’s plans to control costs comes just days after he sent out a companywide email demanding that employees spend a minimum of 40 hours a week in the office or resign.

Along with Tesla, Musk serves as the CEO of SpaceX and co-founded companies including The Boring Company and Neuralink. Most recently, he entered into an agreement to acquire Twitter and take it private for around $44 billion, though Twitter’s long-term leadership plans and Musk’s involvement are unclear.