Elon Musk Has ‘Super Bad Feeling’ About Economy, Wants To Slash 10% Of Tesla Employees

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Jun 4, 2022

Elon Musk has a “super bad feeling” about the U.S. economy and now wants massive layoffs at Tesla, slashing 10% of jobs at the company.

The New York Times reports that Tesla currently has more than 99,000 employees. So a 10% slash would spell layoffs for 9,900 workers.

According to a Friday report from Reuters, Musk said in an email to executives that he wanted Tesla to “pause all hiring worldwide.” This latest shift in company strategy came just two days after Musk “told staff to return to the workplace or leave.”

In a Tuesday email, Musk said that “remote work is no longer” acceptable at Tesla. He added that employees risk being fired if they don’t show up at the office for at least 40 hours per week.

“If there are particularly exceptional contributors for whom this is impossible, I will review and approve those exceptions directly,” the billionaire noted. “[The workplace] must be a main Tesla office, not a remote branch office unrelated to the job duties, for example being responsible for Fremont factory human relations, but having your office in another state.”

Following that news, Musk was asked for a response on Twitter for people who believe “coming into work is an antiquated concept.” The Tesla CEO responded by saying, “They should pretend to work somewhere else.”

According to Forbes in early May, Musk is in the small minority: “A new survey of human resources leaders from the Conference Board, a nonprofit business research group, finds that just 4% said they are requiring all employees to return to the workplace full-time.”

“And less than half (45%) said they were requiring some workers to return to the office five days a week,” the magazine added.

When it comes to economic calamity, however, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is sounding similar alarms as Musk. Claiming that his company is bracing itself for a looming economic “hurricane.”

“Right now, it’s kind of sunny, things are doing fine, everyone thinks the Fed can handle this,” Dimon said. “That hurricane is right out there, down the road, coming our way.” He added that no one knows if the hurricane is “a minor one or Superstorm Sandy” and said the investment bank would be “very conservative” with its balance sheet.

It will be interesting to see how Musk’s foresight stacks up against other executives in the coming months as fears of stagflation begin to ramp up.

Polls indicate that inflation and gas prices are giving consumers pause, which could affect Tesla’s stock price considering fewer people are interested in traveling thanks to a steady downward trend for consumer confidence since 2021.

It’s clear that Musk is preparing for the worst.

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