More Tesla employees are said to have been made redundant as the electric vehicle (EV) giant continues to cut its global workforce – with the effects already being felt in Australia.
Last weekRebecca Tinucci, the head of Tesla’s Supercharger division, was fired along with the entire department of about 500 employees, reportedly after the CEO protested the reduction in headcount.
Tesla’s head of new vehicle development, Daniel Ho, is also said to have been fired, although it is not known whether his team was affected by the layoffs.
According to reports, the rapid cuts continue, as Electricity Tesla’s reported layoffs have entered their third week.
Sources say Tesla employees from various departments including software, services and engineering have been laid off in the past few days.
However, it is unclear how many people are affected by the latest round of layoffs. Electricity understands that nearly 20% of Tesla’s workforce could be out of work by the time the cuts end.
It is understood the brand’s Australian operations are also impacted by these global headcount cuts.
Australian technology publication EFTM reports the local deployment of additional Tesla Superchargers has been paused indefinitely.
EFTM cited an email between a Victorian business that was about to install a four-bay Supercharger facility in its car park and that business’s legal representative.
The legal representative was allegedly told by a Tesla employee that operations on the proposed Supercharger station would not continue.
“I just received a voicemail from (name redacted) at Tesla stating that the Tesla Supercharger team has been dissolved globally and there will be no more supercharger manufacturing facilities going forward,” email said.
“I just spoke to (the Tesla employee) and he expressed his disappointment and was certainly surprised – as was the rest of the Tesla Supercharged team. He also said he expected his email to be deactivated within the next 24 hours.”
Tesla’s Supercharger network – often considered one of the best in the industry – was initially exclusive to its own vehicles, although it has recently begun opening stations to other automakers.
As of August 2023, 30 of the 63 Supercharger stations in Australia can be used to charge non-Tesla electric vehicles. It is not yet known whether the halted charger rollout will result in a halt to this expansion of access.
Last monthTesla posted its operating margin at 5.5% in the first quarter of 2024 – down from 11.3% in the first quarter of 2023 – while new vehicle deliveries fell to their lowest level in 2022 throughout the first three months of the year.
THAN: Everything Tesla
THAN: Tesla fires Supercharger and new car development team – report
