Chattanooga Times Free Press

Tesla plans to lay off 10% of workforce

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After reporting dismal first-quarter sales, Tesla is planning to lay off about a tenth of its workforce as it tries to cut costs, multiple media outlets reported Monday.

CEO Elon Musk detailed the plans in a memo sent to employees. The layoffs could affect about 14,000 of the 140,473 workers employed by the Austin, Texas, company at the end of last year.

Musk’s memo said that as Tesla prepares for its next phase of growth, “it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivi­ty,” The New York Times and CNBC reported. News of the layoffs was first reported by electric vehicle website Electrek.

Also Monday, two key Tesla executives announced on social media that they are leaving the company. Andrew Baglino, senior vice president of powertrain and energy engineerin­g, wrote he had made the decision to leave after 18 years with the company.

Rohan Patel, senior global director of public policy and business developmen­t, also wrote on social media he was leaving Tesla, after eight years.

Baglino, who held several top engineerin­g jobs at the company and was chief technology officer, wrote that the decision to leave was difficult. “I loved tackling nearly every problem we solved as a team and feel gratified to have contribute­d to the mission of accelerati­ng the transition to sustainabl­e energy,” he wrote.

Musk thanked Baglino in a reply. “Few have contribute­d as much as you,” he wrote.

Shares of Tesla fell 4.8% Monday afternoon, hours after news of the layoffs and departures broke. Shares of Tesla Inc. have lost about one-third of their value so far this year as sales of electric vehicles soften.

Tesla sales fell sharply last quarter as competitio­n increased worldwide, electric vehicle sales growth slowed, and price cuts failed to draw more buyers. The company said it delivered 386,810 vehicles from January through March, nearly 9% below the 423,000 it sold in the same quarter of last year.

Since last year, Tesla has cut prices as much as $20,000 on some models as it faced increasing competitio­n and slowing demand. The price cuts caused used electric vehicle values to drop and clipped profit margins.

The company has said it will reveal an autonomous robotaxi at an event in August.

 ?? AP PHOTO/EBRAHIM NOROOZI ?? In March, people walk to the Tesla Gigafactor­y in Gruenheide near Berlin.
AP PHOTO/EBRAHIM NOROOZI In March, people walk to the Tesla Gigafactor­y in Gruenheide near Berlin.

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