Some Tesla employees are concerned that layoffs are imminent, possibly as soon as this weekend.
Rumors are circling at Tesla's offices that cuts are on the horizon, seven engineers — including from the Austin gigafactory and the Fremont factory — told Business Insider. While there has not been any official communication to teams, some workers said they'd heard cuts could begin as soon as Sunday.
Two other workers said they hadn't heard the chatter about layoffs, while others said they weren't taking them too seriously.
"There've been some whispers and some people are concerned, but you know how fast false rumors can spread at a company this big," one engineer said.
A spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is the second time in a matter of months that anxiety over possible layoffs has set in at Tesla. In February, the carmaker reportedly called for managers to begin identifying the most vital roles for the company. At the same time, Tesla also delayed some workers' performance reviews, Bloomberg reported. The reviews were later rescheduled, three sources told Business Insider.
Workers across the tech industry are likely on high alert for any sign of a potential layoff. Several Big Tech companies, including Google and Microsoft, have already made cuts this year. EV rivals like Rivian and Fisker have also laid off staff in 2024.
And Tesla has faced some strong headwinds recently.
Tesla's first-quarter delivery numbers revealed a slump in sales, for instance. The carmaker's deliveries fell 20% from the previous quarter and over 8% from the same time the previous year, marking the company's first year-on-year sales decline since 2020.
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