Tesla Laying Off 10% of Employees

Elon Musk delivered an unwanted email to Tesla employees on Monday—the company is laying off 10% of its employees worldwide, reports electrek. That would amount to about 14,000 employees, based on Tesla's most recent annual report.

• "There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done," Musk wrote in the email. "This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle." He said the company had expanded rapidly in recent years, leading to duplicative positions.

• The trend: The Wall Street Journal notes that the overall EV market is slowing, and Tesla sales have not been immune to that—the company delivered 387,000 vehicles worldwide in the first quarter of this year, down more than 8% from the previous year.
• Shares continue slump: Tesla shares were down 3% on the news, and they're down 31% so far this year, per CNBC.
• Hurt in China: Tesla doesn't detail geographical sales, but electrek reports that "the main dip seems to have come from China, where Chinese EV makers are ramping quickly both in the domestic and export market." In fact, China's BYD surpassed Tesla as No. 1 in electric vehicle sales last year, though Tesla has since reclaimed the title.

(More Tesla stories.)