Tesla to layoff 9 percent of workforce

Tesla is planning to lay off approximately 9 percent of its employees to cut costs.

In an email first reported by CNBC, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company has not “made an annual profit in the almost 15 years since” it was founded.

CNBC estimated that the company will cut approximately 4,100 of its 46,000 employees.

Difficult, but necessary Tesla reorg underway. My email to the company has already leaked to media. Here it is unfiltered: pic.twitter.com/4LToWoxScx

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 12, 2018

“As part of this effort, and the need to reduce costs and become profitable, we have made the difficult decision to let go of approximately 9% of our colleagues across the company,” Musk wrote. 

{mosads}“These cuts were almost entirely made from our salaried population and no production associates were included, so this will not affect our ability to reach Model 3 production targets in the coming months,” he wrote.

Musk referenced a “company-wide restructuring,” which was reported last month by Electrek. 

Electrek on Tuesday also reported the company’s layoffs and said the cuts began Monday.

Musk in the email thanked the employees leaving the company and said they will receive compensation.

“I would like to thank everyone who is departing Tesla for their hard work over the years. I’m deeply grateful for your many contributions to our mission. It is very difficult to say goodbye,” the CEO wrote.

“In order to minimize the impact, Tesla is providing significant salary and stock vesting (proportionate to length of service) to those we are letting go,” Musk wrote.

Musk has recently sparred with the media over its coverage of his company and suggested last month he may create a website to “track the credibility” of journalists. 

“Going to create a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication,” he wrote on Twitter. 

“Thinking of calling it Pravda …”

Pravda was the newspaper of the Soviet Union’s communist party. 

—Updated at 3:54 p.m.