Tesla announced Friday it would be firing seven percent of its workforce, or more than 3,000 employees, with chief executive Elon Musk stressing that the electric car maker needs to ramp up production of its Model 3 sedan.
Musk, in a memo shared with Tesla workers and posted to the company’s website, said last year was “the most challenging in Tesla’s history.” The company was stuck in “production hell,” as Musk dubbed it, as Tesla raced to produce 5,000 Model 3 sedans — it’s most affordable car — per week, a goal it ultimately reached.
But the company grew its headcount by 30 percent in 2018, something Musk said was “more than we can support” on Friday.