Thousands of Austin employees impacted by Tesla layoffs
Editor's note: the above video is from KXAN reporting on April 15, 2024.
AUSTIN (KXAN) --- Thousands of Tesla employees in Austin were left scrambling to find a job after recent layoffs.
Earlier this month, KXAN reported about the Austin-based company laying off more than 10% of its workforce globally.
According to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter sent to the Texas Workforce Commission, Tesla fired 2,688 of its Austin employees.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk detailed the plans in a memo sent to employees.
Musk’s memo said as Tesla prepares for its next phase of growth, “it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity,” The New York Times and CNBC reported.
KXAN reached out to Tesla for additional comment but has not heard back yet.
'It's just crazy'
KXAN spoke with an Austin employee who was let go. They asked us to conceal their identity.
“It’s just crazy. It’s heartbreaking. It’s just a lot to take in within such little time.”
Former Tesla Employee
The person said they woke up to an email on the morning of April 15 with details about the layoffs.
The email was titled “Tesla Employment Update,” and it notified certain employees that they were fired effective immediately.
“Your last working day will be today, April 14, 2024. Effective now, you will not need to perform any further work and therefore will no longer have access to Tesla systems and physical locations,” the email forwarded to KXAN read.
The employee said they were completely blindsided.
“It was out of nowhere. I wasn’t expecting it. I was thinking that I was gonna get up today later on and get ready for work,” the employee said. “I just want to cry.”