© Reuters
– Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote to the company’s bosses that he had “super bad premonitions” about the economy and would therefore cut about 10 percent of his staff, Reuters reported.
The message, sent Thursday, titled “pausing hires around the world” comes two days after the billionaire ordered employees to return to work or leave.
Nearly 100,000 people were employed by Tesla and its subsidiaries at the end of 2021.
Shares of the electric car maker fell nearly 3% in US trading on Friday, while shares traded in Frankfurt fell 3.6% after the information went public.
Reuters points out that demand for Tesla cars and other electric vehicles remains strong, and many traditional indicators of the decline, including an increase in stocks and incentives in the United States, have not materialized.
Musk, the richest man in the world, according to Forbes magazine, did not specify the reasons for his “super bad feeling” in the short email.
Several analysts recently lowered Tesla’s price targets, predicting a loss of production at the Shanghai plant, which was delayed due to the Kovid-19 pandemic, which led to a two-month closure of the city.
China accounts for just over a third of Tesla’s global shipments in 2021. On Thursday, Daiwa Capital Markets estimated that Musk’s company has about 32,000 orders pending delivery in China, compared to 600,000 vehicles for China’s BYD. its rival for electric cars in this market.
Reuters writes that the plans to reduce staff will meet resistance in the Netherlands, where the company’s European headquarters, as his order to return to office mode was met with dissatisfaction in Germany.
“You can’t just fire Dutch workers,” said FNV spokesman Hans Walty, adding that Tesla would have to negotiate with them on the terms of the release.
On Tuesday, Musk reiterated in an email to employees that they must stay in their offices for at least 40 hours a week, ending work remotely. “If you do not show up, we will assume that you have resigned,” he wrote.
“Musk’s bad feelings are shared by many,” said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macroeconomic research at Dutch bank ING. “But we are not talking about a global recession. We expect the world economy to cool by the end of the year. The United States will cool down until China and Europe recover.”
Inflation in the United States is nearing a 40-year high and has risen in price for Americans. The Federal Reserve faces the difficult task of cutting demand enough to curb inflation while not causing a recession.
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