Tesla said on Monday that it would lay off more than 10% of its global workforce, a major reduction that comes as the automaker looks to compete with lower-priced offerings from competitors around the world.
The decision was announced in a companywide email from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who said the layoffs will enable the automaker to “be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.”
“As part of this effort, we have done a thorough review of the organization and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally,” Musk said.
Tesla’s workforce stands at slightly above 140,000 people, meaning the cuts could affect around 14,000 employees.
Tesla reported a drop in sales for the first quarter for the first time in nearly four years.
