In spring 2024, Tesla announced the elimination of more than 10% of its global workforce, a decision that comes after a period of continuous growth in employee numbers in recent years. This strategic choice, driven by Elon Musk, aims to adjust the company’s structure in response to a changing industrial context.
This massive reduction in personnel is accompanied by an internal reorganization and a refocusing on projects deemed priorities. The direct consequences of these measures redefine the balance of power within the automotive sector and alter the career trajectories of thousands of Tesla employees.
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How many people currently work at Tesla in 2024?
In 2024, the question of staffing at Tesla reflects an internal upheaval and Elon Musk’s bets for the future of the group. At the very end of 2023, Tesla employed around 140,000 people worldwide. A massive workforce, especially for a company that has grown so quickly. But this already considerable total is starting to decline: Tesla announced the elimination of more than 10% of its global workforce, affecting at least 14,000 positions.
The flagship sites of Tesla are not spared, and the figures are revealing. At the Gigafactory in Berlin, 10,703 employees were present at the beginning of 2024. This number has dropped by 1,700 employees, despite official statements that downplay the extent of this reduction. German unions and internal sources present a much more alarming picture. In this context of contraction, Tesla is adjusting its production lines and reassessing its structure in response to declining demand for electric cars.
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The situation is no more stable in the American factories, such as the Gigafactory in Texas, where the future of many positions remains uncertain. Elon Musk is making radical choices: some projects are strengthened, others abandoned, and entire departments are disappearing. To go further and track the evolution of staffing accurately, the number of employees at Elon Musk on Blog Business centralizes the latest official figures and their variations quarter after quarter.
Staffing has now become the thermometer of Musk’s strategy: constant adaptation, imposed agility, but also vulnerability for those who keep Tesla running. In this climate, the question of preserving skills, or losing them, takes on a new dimension. Each employee now finds themselves in a workforce suspended to the strategy of an unpredictable leader.
Elon Musk’s recent decisions on staffing: key facts and motivations
Since the beginning of the year, Elon Musk has implemented a sharp turn in the management of Tesla teams. Announcements are piling up, disrupting certainties, reshaping organizational charts, and illustrating the boss’s desire to react to a less favorable electric vehicle market. The first quarter of 2024 saw deliveries drop to 386,810 vehicles delivered, compared to 422,800 in the same period in 2023. This drop is accompanied by a 55% decline in net profit, prompting Musk to thoroughly reassess his priorities.
Here are the major measures that marked this period:
- Closure of two key departments: the Supercharger network (charging infrastructure) and the New Products team. Rebecca Tinucci, who led the Supercharger, and Daniel Ho, head of New Products, are among the major departures.
- More than 500 jobs cut in the charging network, significantly impacting the expansion dynamics in Europe and the United States.
- Departures in the public policy teams (led by Rohan Patel) and powertrain (under the leadership of Drew Baglino), reshuffling the cards in these strategic departments.
These movements are not mere adjustments. Elon Musk is refocusing resources on artificial intelligence and autonomous driving. The abandonment of the $25,000 vehicle project is a glaring example. Tesla still promises to make its cars more accessible, but without providing a timeline, while betting on breakthrough technologies. Musk, omnipresent on social media, justifies his decisions by the need to prepare Tesla for future challenges, even if it means sacrificing entire teams to accelerate innovation.
Consequences for the automotive industry and Tesla employees
The wave of layoffs at Tesla, over 10% of employees, or more than 14,000 jobs, shakes much more than the company itself. The entire automotive sector must contend with a weakened electric vehicle market. On the ground, the Gigafactory in Berlin becomes the epicenter of tensions: 1,700 jobs cut according to the latest data, while Tesla denies any significant downward trend. This gap between rhetoric and reality fuels a palpable discomfort.
The union response is swift. IG Metall, the main German union, is ramping up pressure to influence the management of the Berlin site. The atmosphere is deteriorating, and many employees point to a corporate culture that is declining, questioning Musk’s strategy and his ability to manage such a large group on a daily basis.
On the industrial side, the situation remains mixed. Tesla aims to produce batteries in Berlin by 2027, with a target of 8 GWh/year, which could revitalize the region. However, the pressure on teams remains, with sometimes abrupt decisions, a constant quest for innovation, and a performance imperative. Production lines, whether in Texas or Germany, are closely monitored. Even the Model Y, the flagship of the brand, is feeling the repercussions of this instability, no longer eligible for the ecological bonus in France.
The sky has darkened for Tesla, but the storm could well shape a more agile company or, conversely, leave lasting scars. The coming months will reveal whether this disruptive strategy opens a new era, or if Musk’s brand pays the heavy price for its radical choices.