EV maker reportedly let go of associates, team leaders and supervisors
A new report from Reuters has emerged stating that Tesla has fired over 400 of its employees earlier this week, according to a former employee who spoke to outlet on Friday and asked not to be identified. The cuts were reportedly the result of an annual, company-wide review, according to an email Tesla sent to Reuters; however, it didn’t confirm how many employees were let go.
The former Tesla employee revealed that over 400 people were laid off from the company and it included associates, team leaders, and supervisors. According to the EV maker, performance was the main reason for the firings but the former employee who worked on the assembly line, said he was let go even though he never received a bad review during evaluations.
Mercury News also reported that the firings also included engineers and managers. Despite being let go, some former employees received promotions and bonuses, according to Tesla who insists these weren’t layoffs. Former and current employees revealed to Mercury News that the dismissals came with little to warning. The number of layoff according to current workers numbered between 400 to 700 employees. A Tesla spokesman also revealed that most of the employees dismissed were in administrative and sales positions. Workers in the factory floor who spoke to Mercury News anonymously revealed that the firings have led to lower morale throughout the company and that the targets appear to be those working on the Model X, Model S, and SolarCity operations.
With the recent launch of the Model 3 sedan, Tesla has been experiencing “production bottlenecks” that has caused it to fall behind its production ramp up for the new car. Additionally, It only delivered 220 Model 3s and made 260 of them in the third quarter since beginning production earlier this year in July. Originally, the automaker promised to produce around 1,500 Model 3s by the third quarter of 2017.
Source: Reuters, The Mercury News