Tesla laid off multiple employees last week, former workers said on LinkedIn.
Their roles include talent acquisition and engineering, according to at least four posts on the professional networking site. One software engineering manager was let go after eight years with the electric automaker, according to a Linkedin post over the weekend.
“I got laid off after 8 years of stint with Tesla, as part of the org restructuring my position got eliminated,” wrote Ajan Viswambharan, a former technical lead at Tesla.
The layoffs come after Bloomberg reported in July that Tesla let go of employees working on its battery assembly lines in Shanghai. However, according to Bloomberg, some workers in China were offered alternative roles in stamping, painting or general assembly.
Neither Tesla nor the former employees responded to a request for confirmation of the layoffs or for additional information as of press time. But the automaker’s falling margins may have contributed to the layoffs.
In July, Tesla reported a record revenue of $24.9 billion in Q2. However, the company’s operating margins fell from 11.4% to 9.6% compared with Q1. A year ago, Tesla’s operating margin was 14.6%, among the highest in the auto industry.
The electric automaker said it had reduced costs and ramped up production at its factories in Germany and Texas to maintain its operating margin.
Tesla’s falling margins can also be attributed to a series of price cuts earlier this year to boost its competitiveness as rival automakers launch new electric vehicles. Tesla cut the price of its best-selling Model Y SUV by 29% between January and April.
In June 2022, Reuters reported that Tesla CEO Elon Musk emailed employees saying “he had a super bad feeling” about the economy and that the company needed to cut about 10% of salaried employees. In a follow-up message sent to executives, Musk directed them to "pause all hiring worldwide."
According to Tesla’s 2022 impact report, the company had roughly 128,000 employees as of last year.
