Tesla Is Cutting 10% of Workforce, Elon Musk Says He Has a 'Super Bad Feeling' About the Economy The Tesla CEO also is planning to initiate a hiring freeze, per a leaked memo.
By Emily Rella Edited by Amanda Breen
Elon Musk made headlines earlier this week when a leaked email memo to employees revealed that he had told executives on his staff that they are required to start coming into Tesla offices at least 40 hours a week or risk termination from the company.
It now looks like Musk's concerns about his employees and the state of business are growing even larger after another leaked email to employees on Friday showed that the Tesla CEO plans to terminate 10% of the company's total workforce and initiate a hiring freeze.
In the email, which had the grim subject line of "pause all hiring worldwide," Musk reportedly told employees that he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy in the message that was viewed by Reuters.
Related: Elon Musk Brutally Tells Tesla Executives They Must Return to Offices 'Or Depart Tesla'
As of December 31, 2021, Tesla was employing 99,290 people worldwide, per a SEC filing report at the end of last year.
This isn't the first time Musk has warned about the possibility of an oncoming recession, though his prior candor had seemed rather optimistic about what the economic changes would mean for the future of business.
When asked via Twitter last week if he thought we were approaching a recession, the billionaire asserted that he did (estimating it would last 12-18 months) but claimed it was a positive thing.
"It has been raining money on fools for too long. Some bankruptcies need to happen," Musk wrote before going off on how the switch to remote work amid the pandemic has "tricked people into thinking that you don't actually need to work hard. Rude awakening inbound!"
Related: 'Bankruptcies Need to Happen': Elon Musk Sounds Off on Potential Economic Recession
That rude awakening came in the form of Wednesday's memo to Tesla employees, in which he gave his 40-hour in-office week ultimatum to his workers.
News of an impending recession has garnered quite the buzz this past week, with JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warning of an economic hurricane, telling Americans "you better brace yourself."
Tesla was down nearly 8% as of early Friday afternoon upon the news.
