Tesla is closing a Silicon Valley office and laying off 200 employees in a reported cost-cutting move.
The electric vehicle manufacturer’s San Mateo, California, office was working on Tesla’s Autopilot driver-assistant system, according to Reuters, with the move coming on the heels of CEO Elon Musk saying he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy and also warning that a recession is “more likely than not.”
Musk reportedly told Tesla executives earlier this month to “pause all hiring worldwide.”
More than half of the San Mateo employees were notified that their jobs were being eliminated, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with the matter. The others will be relocated to another office.
In a recent interview via videolink at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, the Tesla chief executive confirmed plans to cut 10% of salaried staff at the electric carmaker over the next three months while suggesting a recession was coming.
“A recession is inevitable at some point. As to whether there is a recession in the near term, that is more likely than not,” the world’s richest man said, according to The Guardian.
Citing supply chain issues, Musk said in the interview with Tesla Owners Silicon Valley that Tesla’s factories in Texas and Berlin are losing “billions of dollars right now.”
“Both Berlin and Austin factories are gigantic money furnaces right now. OK? It should be like a giant roaring sound which is the sound of money on fire,” he said in the interview recorded on May 30 and published last week, according to CNBC.
“Berlin and Austin are losing billions of dollars right now because there’s a ton of expense and hardly any output,” Musk added. “Getting Berlin and Austin functional and getting Shanghai back in the saddle fully are overwhelmingly our concerns. Everything else is a very small thing basically.”
The Texas factory is “losing insane money,” Musk noted, pointing to production problems with the 4680 battery, Tesla’s latest technology, and tools to make cars being “stuck in a port in China.”
“Just been trying to keep the factories operating the last couple years has been a very difficult thing, like supply chain interruptions have been severe, like extremely severe,” Musk said.
In other news, Maye Musk took to Twitter to wish her son a Happy Birthday on Tuesday, his 51st birthday, tweeting, “Happy birthday @elonmusk 🎂🥳 Thank you for making the world a better place in the past 1/4 century🥰”
Happy birthday @elonmusk 🎂🥳 Thank you for making the world a better place in the past 1/4 century🥰 #ProudMom pic.twitter.com/PjetPUzThW
— Maye Musk (@mayemusk) June 28, 2022
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.