Are layoffs drastic? Tesla China has recently started recalling employees who were previously laid off.
According to reports from multiple media outlets such as Interface News and Time Finance, reporters have learned from Tesla employees that a small number of Tesla China departments are rehiring some laid-off employees, mostly in the sales and service sectors.
Cutting too hard? Tesla recalls some laid-off employees
HR has started helping sales sell cars
According to Interface News, on June 27th, Tesla China launched a recall process for previously laid off employees in the past two days, with an expected recall scale of over 100 people. As this work has just begun, the number of recalls may change. At present, the employees planned to be recalled were originally assigned to the charging, sales, after-sales, and delivery departments. If they agree to be recalled, the returning employees will need to refund "3" of the "N+3" layoff compensation, and their company age will be recalculated.
More than two months ago, Musk announced that Tesla was launching a large-scale layoff worldwide, with a proportion exceeding 10%. The sales and service department in China was one of the "hardest hit areas". According to Tesla's latest internal documents, the current number of employees is about 121000, a decrease of over 14% from the company's over 140000 employees at the end of last year, a decrease of nearly 20000 people.
At the first quarter financial report press conference this year, Musk stated that Tesla's labor surplus rate may have reached 25% to 30% after experiencing a "long-term prosperity" since 2019. He also stated that although Tesla has been adjusting its personnel in recent years, in order to enter the next stage of growth, a more thorough restructuring is necessary.
According to reports, the layoff rate of Tesla's China charging, sales, and marketing teams has even reached 40% -50%. For laid-off employees, Tesla's compensation standard is "N+3", and they will complete the procedures and leave the office on the day the layoff compensation conditions are negotiated. At the end of May, Tesla China gradually issued layoff compensation.
Two Tesla employees in the Beijing office said that after the layoffs, the number of office workers in the Beijing office decreased by nearly half, and the Shanghai office also decreased by nearly one-third. A former Tesla sales system employee stated that some supermarkets with significant layoffs only retain teams of 5 to 6 people, which is not conducive to the normal operation of the stores. Normally, the number of employees in Tesla supermarkets should be between 8 and 9. According to Time Weekly, a person close to Tesla confirmed to reporters that the main reason for rehiring laid-off employees was due to a shortage of staff in the store.
Even Tesla China's HR has started helping sell cars. A woman who had previously submitted a resume to Tesla told the Daily Economic News that she had recently received a call from Tesla HR, who said that although she had previously applied for a position at Tesla China without any recruitment plans, there have been many discounts on car purchases recently. She could consider purchasing a Tesla car and inviting her to test drive.
Respondents provide
However, some Tesla Chinese employees who have been laid off are not very interested in this rehire. On social media platforms, some Tesla China sales, which have been affected by layoffs, have entered brands such as NIO and are starting new jobs.
This is not Tesla's first time rehiring or dismissing an employee. In May of this year, shortly after Tesla CEO Elon Musk laid off nearly 500 employees from the supercharging station team, Tesla rehired these employees, including North American Charging Business Director Max DeZeger. According to overseas media reports, Tesla's North American region has resumed recruitment and has released hundreds of new positions, involving multiple departments such as artificial intelligence and robotics, manufacturing, supply chain, and operations. At present, Tesla has gradually opened recruitment for sales, after-sales, and delivery in China.
At the same time as layoffs, Musk also stated that he would reward outstanding employees. On June 17th, Musk stated in an email to all employees that Tesla will offer stock options to outstanding employees in the coming weeks, rewarding those who have made outstanding contributions to the company. Previously, Musk's own $56 billion (approximately RMB 406.2 billion) salary plan had already been approved.
Insiders told First Financial reporters that although Tesla had previously suspended performance-based equity rewards, it has recently restarted its option reward program.
Tesla's market value evaporated by over one trillion yuan within the year
Musk made multiple commitments
According to data released by Tesla, the company's car delivery volume in the first quarter of this year decreased by 8.5% year-on-year. Tesla expects that the sales growth rate in 2024 may be significantly lower than the growth rate in 2023. Tesla's financial report shows that in the first quarter of this year, the company's revenue plummeted by 9%, the largest decline in 12 years.
However, stimulated by price cuts, Tesla's sales in the Chinese market rebounded in May. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Tesla's domestic sales in May exceeded 55000 vehicles, a month on month increase of 77% and a year-on-year increase of 30%. Tesla China's wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicles in May reached 72573 units (including exports).
As of the close on June 27th, Tesla's stock price closed at $197.42, with a total market value of $629.6 billion. Since the beginning of this year, Tesla's stock price has fallen by more than 20%, and its market value has evaporated by over 160 billion US dollars (approximately 1.16 trillion yuan).
According to Dan Ives, an analyst at brokerage firm Wade Bush, Tesla is currently an AI company with a severely undervalued stock price.
Recently, Musk promised investors that the company will soon release a new "Master Plan" Tesla Master Plan 4. Musk said that the plan will be "epic". Tesla is actively purchasing artificial intelligence chips to train its autonomous driving model. Earlier this month, Musk announced that Tesla may spend $3 billion to $4 billion this year to purchase Nvidia chip hardware.
At the recent shareholder meeting, Musk also announced that he will begin "limited production" of Optimus (Optimus Prime) humanoid robots in 2025 and test humanoid robots at Tesla's factory next year. He stated that humanoid robots will become the mainstay of industry, with a number expected to surpass humans and reach 10 to 20 billion units.
In addition, Tesla is expected to announce the design of its "dedicated robot taxi" on August 8th. Musk also promised to build a $500 million supercomputer system Dojo for Tesla, which will help Tesla develop computer vision technology and large models for robots and autonomous vehicle.
At the previous quarter's financial report meeting, Musk stated that Tesla plans to start producing new models, including cheaper electric vehicles, before 2025.
Daily Economic News Comprehensive Self Interface News, First Financial, Times Finance, Caixin News, Public Information, etc