Musk reportedly eyes cutting 10 percent of Tesla jobs over 'super bad feeling' about economy

Elon Musk
(Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Elon Musk is reportedly looking to cut thousands of jobs at Tesla over concerns about the economy.

The Tesla CEO said in an email to executives he has a "super bad feeling" about the economy and needs to cut 10 percent of jobs at the company, Reuters reported Friday. The electric carmaker had almost 100,000 employees as of the end of last year. Musk reportedly made his comments in an email with the subject line "pause all hiring worldwide."

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Musk is still in the process of purchasing Twitter, though the deal is not yet complete. He has reportedly discussed the possibility of job cuts at the company, which has already instituted a hiring freeze.

A number of experts have warned of a possible recession on the horizon. After recently being asked on Twitter if he believes a recession is coming, Musk said, "Yes, but this is actually a good thing. It has been raining money on fools for too long. Some bankruptcies need to happen." When asked about Musk's "super bad feeling" about the economy and plan to cut jobs on Friday, President Biden said, "Lots of luck on his trip to the moon."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.