Tesla to lay off over 10% of staff as sales fall

The planned job cuts come after Tesla reported earlier this month that its global vehicle deliveries in the first quarter fell for the first time in nearly four years, as price cuts failed to stir demand. Picture: AP/Ebrahim Noroozi

Tesla will lay off more than 10% of its global workforce, an internal memo seen by Reuters on Monday shows, as it grapples with falling sales amid an intensifying price war for electric vehicles.

The world's largest automaker by market value had 140,473 employees globally as of December 2023, its latest annual report shows. The memo did not say how many jobs would be affected.

"As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity," Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said in the memo.

"As part of this effort, we have done a thorough review of the organization and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally," it said.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tesla shares were down 0.3% in pre-market trading on Monday.

The planned job cuts come after Tesla reported earlier this month that its global vehicle deliveries in the first quarter fell for the first time in nearly four years, as price cuts failed to stir demand.

Tesla, which reports quarterly earnings on April 23, is braced for a slowdown in 2024 after years of rapid sales growth.

Reuters