Musk talks in detail about job cuts at Tesla amid rising fears of recession

DOHA – Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk said the 10 per cent reduction in the staff of the electric car maker would take place within three months the richest man in the world predicted a recession in the US most likely.

His remarks were the most detailed explanation of the job reduction plans and his first personal appearance since Reuters reported earlier this month that the company needed to cut staff by about 10% and stop hiring worldwide.

Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum organized by Bloomberg, Musk said the cuts would only apply to employees, which means a 3.5 percent reduction in total staff, a change he called “not super-material.”

But he expressed concern about the prospect of a recession in the United States.

“It’s not confidence, but more likely than not,” he said.

Prospects Mask echoes comments from executives including JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Diamond and Goldman Sachs President John Waldron. “The hurricane is going straight down the road,” Diman said earlier this month.

The CEOs, the Federal Reserve and the Biden administration are increasingly worried about whether the U.S. will enter a recession.

US President Joe Biden reiterated on Monday that he said a recession in the US was not inevitable, even as the world’s largest economy struggles to fight high gasoline prices and inflation, which is at its highest level in 40 years. .

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers told NBC News on Sunday that he expects a recession.

In a June 2 email seen by Reuters, Musk told Tesla executives that he has “super bad feeling“about the economy and the fact that companies need to cut staff by about 10 percent and” suspend all hiring around the world. “

On Tuesday, he said Tesla expects to increase the number of employees who are paid by the hour, as opposed to fixed wages.

He also said he adheres to the digital currency and intends to personally support dogecoin.

The digital currency has been extremely volatile this year, but bitcoin has risen following Tesla’s announcement last February to buy the $ 1.5 billion currency and briefly accepted it as payment for vehicles.