as part of Tesla In a massive restructuring, the electric automaker notified the California Employment Development Department this week that it will lay off nearly 600 additional employees at its manufacturing facilities and engineering offices between Fremont and Palo Alto.
The latest round of layoffs has eliminated roles across the board — from entry-level positions to managers — and hit a range of departments, affecting factory workers, software developers and robotics engineers.
The cuts were reported in the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice, or WARN, a law filing that CNBC obtained through a public records request.
Facing weak demand for Tesla's electric vehicles and increasing competition, the company has been reducing its headcount since at least January. CEO Elon Musk told employees in a memo in April that the company would cut more than 10% of its global workforce, which totals 140,473 employees, at the end of 2023.
Previous filings revealed that Tesla will eliminate more than 6,300 jobs across California; Austin, Texas; and Buffalo, New York.
Musk said on Tesla's quarterly earnings call on April 23 that the company has accumulated “inefficiencies” of 25% to 30% over the past several years, implying that the ongoing layoffs could affect tens of thousands of employees more than they suggest. It has a figure of 10%.
According to the WARN file, the 378 job cuts in Fremont, home to Tesla's first U.S. manufacturing plant, included people involved in hiring and operating vehicle assembly. There were 65 lots on the company's Cato Road. Battery Development Center.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Among the senior roles eliminated at Fremont were two directors of environmental health and safety and a director of user experience design.
In Palo Alto, home to the company's engineering headquarters, another 233 employees, including two technical program managers, lost their jobs.
Tesla also terminated the majority of employees involved in designing and improving apps designed for customers and employees, according to two former employees with direct knowledge of the matter. A WARN file shows this to be the case, with many of the team cut off from Tesla's Hanover Street location in Palo Alto.
Tesla is facing lower demand for cars it makes in Fremont, including its older Model S and
The onslaught of competition, especially in China, continued to pressure Tesla's sales in the second quarter. Both Xiaomi and Nio have launched new electric car models, cutting prices for Tesla's most popular cars.
Tesla's stock price is down about 30% so far this year, while the S&P 500 is up 11%.
Musk is trying to persuade investors not to focus on car sales and instead support Tesla's potential to offer self-driving software, a robotaxi, and a “conscious” robot. Musk and Tesla have long promised customers self-driving software that would turn their existing electric cars into robotaxis, but the company's systems still require constant human supervision.
Other recent job cuts at Tesla include the team responsible for building the Supercharger, or fast charging network for electric vehicles, in the United States.
Tesla revealed plans in its 2023 annual filing to grow and improve charging infrastructure “to ensure cost effectiveness and customer satisfaction.” Tesla said in the filing that it needs to expand “its network in order to ensure sufficient availability to meet customer demands,” after other car companies announced plans to adopt the charging standard in North America.
Since laying off most of the Supercharger team, Tesla has begun rehiring at least some members, a move reminiscent of the job cuts Musk made at Twitter after he bought the company and later renamed it X. Musk told CNBC's David Faber last year: Rehiring some of those he let go.
Read California's latest WARN filings here:
