Elon Musk, the eccentric and unquestionably visionary behind Tesla (and probably fourteen other businesses), is on a firing spree as of late. He figured out that all those fancy electric cars may actually need a few less engineers and — get that — a lot less customer support, for the company to stay afloat.
Heavy Clouds On The Horizon
If you are an EV enthusiast, you may feel a tad uneasy. Following the wave of initial layoffs and after some of the most senior executives (Rohan Patel, Drew Baglino) were shown the door, Elon Musk isn’t finished. Two more long-standing executives are leaving the company as well — Rebecca Tinucci and Daniel Ho. Tinucci was the mastermind behind the Supercharger network; she’s the one who made sure you could juice up the battery on your cross-country adventures.
Daniel Ho from Tesla’s future vehicles program will be followed in the coming weeks by the one and only Martin Viecha, making all of us uneasy about the future. Musk isn’t finished yet, though. Hundreds more employees, from engineers to public policy people, are reportedly facing the pink slip.
Tesla To Reduce Its Workforce By 20%
It looks like the first quarter financials may be to blame for the vast restructuring. Even though Musk downplayed the results initially, his actions speak volumes. With the Chinese automakers hot on Tesla’s heels and profits nowhere near where Musk expected, cutting costs wherever possible seems to be the idea. The rumored target is a 20% staff reduction, which would mean we are only halfway there.
A cost-cutting initiative is one thing; cutting down entire teams is an altogether different story. It suggests a shift of direction, and that’s what has the investors worried. Initially, the shares jumped on the good news from China (Tesla teamed up with Baidu for FSD), but all the gains are now fizzling away.
Robotaxi To Save Tesla
Elon Musk is not hiding his next big dream. He has already announced that Tesla is fully committed to autonomous taxi vehicles, and that’s where his focus is. This fabled driverless wonder wants to put Uber drivers out of business while making Tesla even richer. That’s a very ambitious goal. Looking at the driverless competition, we are not surprised that the investors are worried about the future.
Nobody likes to see people lose their jobs, it’s one of the most horrible life experiences. But, unfortunately, change is the name of the game, especially in the fast-evolving world of EVs. The question remains: will Tesla emerge from this leaner and meaner, ready to fight? Or will this be a start of glitched-out Model 3s piling up on the streets?