Tesla Job Cuts Include More Than 1,000 Workers in California

(Bloomberg) -- Tesla Inc. notified California that the job cuts Elon Musk announced earlier this month will include more than 1,000 workers in the electric-car maker’s home state.

The positions being eliminated include 802 in Fremont, the city that’s home to the company’s lone assembly plant; 137 at a facility in nearby Lathrop; and 78 at its headquarters in Palo Alto, according to notices filed this week to California. In Fremont, the most common roles being cut are sales advisers, production associates and supervisors in manufacturing, the company said in one of the three notices dated Jan. 29.

Musk, Tesla’s chief executive officer, announced plans to cut 7 percent of staff worldwide in an email to employees Jan. 18. He said the reductions are necessary because the company’s products are still too expensive for most consumers. It was the second major round of reductions in a seven-month span -- in June, the CEO said Tesla would cut headcount by 9 percent.

During a quarterly earnings call Wednesday, Musk said Tesla will be focusing on slashing expenses as it brings cheaper versions of the Model 3 to market.

“We have to be relentless about costs in order to make affordable cars and not go bankrupt,” Musk said. “That’s what our headcount reduction is about. We have to be super hardcore about it. It’s the only way to make affordable cars.”

Read more: Would-be Tesla customers are waiting on cheaper Model 3s

California requires employers to file notices when they’re laying off 50 or more workers at one location. Tesla has sales and service centers across the state, so the three notices the company sent this week aren’t an exhaustive list.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.