Tesla is preparing a wave of layoffs in the first quarter of 2023 and plans to implement a hiring freeze.
A source familiar with the matter tells Electrek that the hiring freeze has already been implemented, although it is not yet clear how extensive the freeze will be nor how long it will be in effect. Tesla has not commented on the report.
Read: Should Elon Musk Step Down As Head Of Tesla?
The hiring freeze and job cuts come approximately six months after chief executive Elon Musk announced that executives had been told to “pause all hiring” and that the car manufacturer would cut 10 percent of all staff. This hiring pause didn’t last long and Tesla’s workforce began to grow again through the second half of the year.
The move comes at a tumultuous time for Tesla in the stock market. The company’s stock spent the first nine months of this year largely tracking the NASDAQ as a whole but ever since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in October, has been in free fall.
Electrek notes that recently-announced discounts for Tesla models also indicates that the company is facing some demand problems.
Tesla’s hiring freeze comes despite its planning to continue to build up production at factories around the world. Not only is it expected to break ground on a brand new factory in Mexico next year but it is also looking to double the capacity of its factory in Germany. Indeed, it wants to increase capacity from 500,000 units a year to 1 million units, something that will obviously require a significant increase in staff.
