Elon Musk says Tesla’s total headcount will rise despite cuts

Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said Tesla’s total headcount will increase, a day after telling employees he plans to reduce salaried staff by 10 per cent.

The number of salaried employees will be “fairly flat” even as overall headcount rises, the billionaire said in a tweet Saturday. Musk had previously told staff that the job cuts won’t apply to those who build cars or battery packs, according to people who received an internal memo Friday.

Total headcount will increase, but salaried should be fairly flat

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2022

Shares of the automaker slumped more than 9 per cent on Friday after news of the job cuts emerged. Reuters had previously reported that Musk told some company executives he was cutting the number of Tesla employees broadly because he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy.

About 39 per cent of roughly 100,000 workers at Tesla were “production line employees,” according to the company’s annual report.