Tesla CEO Elon Musk is halting new hires at the electric vehicle market leader as he has a “super bad feeling” about the economy, according to an email reviewed by Reuters.
Mr. Musk’s message indicated that he thought Tesla needed to cut 10% of jobs at the company and the email was labeled “pause all hiring worldwide.”
The anticipated hiring freeze at Tesla comes after reports that Mr. Musk sent an earlier email directing employees to return to the office for 40 hours per week or the company would assume they resigned.
Wedbush Securities Managing Director Dan Ives told CNBC he questioned whether Mr. Musk’s reported email was a canary in the coal mine and thought the market environment in China had played a role.
“I think part of this is being cautionary; I still think demand is outstripping supply globally,” Mr. Ives said. “But I think he’s also setting a tone, trying to get ahead of this.”
Tesla and its subsidiaries employed slightly more than 100,000 workers as of the end of 2021, according to a filing with the SEC, which noted that 42% of its employees worked outside the U.S.
Mr. Musk is not the only executive warning of stiff economic headwinds. Earlier this week, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned at an investor conference that an economic “hurricane” loomed and people could not be sure how severe the storm would be.
Tesla did not respond to request for comment on the authenticity of the email attributed to Mr. Musk.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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