Elon Musk, on May 15 sent an email to all staffers informing them that he wants to gain a better understanding of hiring at the firm. He also ordered all the employees that no one gets hired without his approval.
In an email shared by Elon Musk to his employees, all the employees were instructed to personally send Elon Musk a list of their department hiring requests once a week. They were told to not bring anyone on board without Elon Musk's email approval.
“VPs should send me a list of their department hiring requests once a week. Think carefully before sending me a request. No one can join Tesla, even as a contractor, until you receive my email approval,” he said in an email marked to “everybody,” reported CNBC US.
It is worth noting that this is not anything new, as Elon Musk has been generally involved in new hiring and budget approvals at Tesla since he took over the position of CEO in 2008.
The message is being decoded differently by different people. On one hand, where some are thinking of email as a soft hiring freeze, others are seeing it as Elon Musk's focus on the auto firm after the appointment of new Twitter CEO, reported CNBC US.
There has been no official confirmation or comment by the company on the mail. Notably, Twitter's take over by Elon Musk caused huge damage for Tesla. Shares of the automaker gained almost 54 per cent, and have been trading flat. The stock saw its worst trading year in 2022, during which it fell by 65 per cent.
On May 12, Elon Musk announced NBC Universal executive Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter. Elon Musk, on the other hand, stepped aside to take on the role of chief technology officer at the company.
In the January-March quarter, Tesla reported a more than 20 per cent drop in its net income from a year earlier. This resulted in the 10 per cent drop in the company's stock price. At that time, Musk had suggested the company would prefer higher volumes to higher margins.
“Price really matters…I think there’s — just sort of a vast number of people that wanted to buy a Tesla car, but can’t afford it. And so, these price changes really make a difference for the average consumer,” said Elon Musk in Tesla’s January earnings call.
In April, Tesla slashed the prices of its Model S and X in the US for the third time in 2023. The move was aimed to lift the slowing demand for its iconic electric vehicles. However, in May, the EV maker prices for all of its cars except Model 3 in the US. Tesla will host another annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas on May 16.