Musk backtracks on job cuts, says Tesla salaried staff to be 'fairly flat'

Reuters

Published Jun 04, 2022 05:38PM ET

Updated Jun 05, 2022 08:00AM ET

(Reuters) -Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Saturday that the electric vehicle maker's total headcount will increase over the next 12 months, but the number of salaried staff should be little changed, backtracking from an email just two days ago saying that job cuts of 10% were needed.

"Total headcount will increase, but salaried should be fairly flat," Musk tweeted https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1533176789022957568 in a reply to an unverified Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) account that made a "prediction" that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)'s headcount would increase over the next 12 months.

Musk in an email to Tesla executives on Thursday, which was seen by Reuters on Friday, said he has a "super bad feeling" about the U.S. economy and needed to cut jobs by about 10%.

In another email to employees on Friday, Musk said Tesla would reduce salaried headcount by 10%, as it has become "overstaffed in many areas." But "hourly headcount will increase," he said.

Tesla's shares sank 9.2% on Friday on the news.

According to a Tesla U.S. regulatory filing, the company and its subsidiaries had almost 100,000 employees at the end of 2021.