Tesla announced on Monday that it will be laying off more than 10 percent of its employees worldwide. The company had more than 140,000 employees at the end of last year, and some affected employees reportedly found out they were fired when their access card no longer worked. CEO Elon Musk acknowledged that some of the severance packages given to dismissed employees were mistakenly too low and apologized for the error.
It is unclear how many employees were affected by the low severance packages. This rare show of remorse from Musk comes after former employees sued him over severance pay discrepancies. In March, four former Twitter employees sued Musk for over $128 million in compensation after he acquired the company and renamed it X.
Musk is now working to address the issue with severance pay as Tesla continues to navigate through restructuring and layoffs. It remains to be seen how Tesla will handle the aftermath of the layoffs and address the concerns raised by affected employees. Some former employees have called for greater transparency and accountability from Musk regarding severance pay practices at his companies.
The layoffs come as a surprise to many, including some current Tesla employees who expressed their shock and disappointment on social media platforms.
Tesla’s stock price dropped by more than 6 percent following news of the layoffs, wiping out billions in market value.
It is not clear if any other changes will follow this announcement, but one thing is certain: Tesla’s future looks uncertain with such a significant downsizing.
As Elon Musk continues to lead Tesla forward, he must ensure that his company’s future success is built on a foundation of trust and respect for all its stakeholders – including its own workforce.