Electric vehicle giant Tesla is reportedly mulling over which positions are absolutely necessary, sparking concerns from employees that job cuts at the automaker are imminent.
Citing people familiar, Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Tesla has asked its U.S. managers to assess whether each of their subordinates' jobs are "critical" to the operation, leaving staff rattled over the possibility of layoffs.
Tesla did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment on the report. The company had more than 140,000 employees worldwide as of the end of 2023.
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The report comes after CEO Elon Musk warned sales growth would slow this year despite price cuts that have already hurt margins at the world's most valuable automaker and fueled investor concerns about soft demand and Chinese competition.
The rumors of potential job cuts at Tesla come as the pace of layoffs in the U.S. accelerated at the start of the year, signaling the labor market is starting to deteriorate in the face of ongoing inflation and high interest rates.
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A recent report published by executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that companies planned 82,307 job cuts in January, a substantial 136% increase from the previous month – the second-highest level on record.
"Waves of layoff announcements hit U.S.-based companies in January after a quiet fourth quarter," said Andy Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The cuts were "driven by broader economic trends and a strategic shift towards increased automation and AI adoption in various sectors, though in most cases, companies point to cost-cutting as the main driver for layoffs."
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So far this year, Amazon, American Airlines, Citigroup, Google and UPS are among the companies that have announced layoffs, along with Tesla rival Ford.
FOX Business' Megan Henney, Daniella Genovese and Reuters contributed to this report.
