Tesla said to be conducting a fresh round of layoffs next quarter

Tesla is battening down the hatches against the possibility of a worsening economy, according to a new report from Electrek. The automaker will conduct a new round of layoffs in the first quarter of 2023, per the blog’s source, and will also freeze hiring across the board — after having just resumed hiring during the latter half of 2022 following a prior freeze and first round of layoffs in June.

Of course, macroeconomic conditions don’t look like they’re going to improve anytime soon, so that could definitely be a reason for Tesla to implement measures to slow or reduce spending on headcount. But the EV company is also facing additional pressures from its recent steep stock price drop, which began in late September/early October and worsened again toward the end of October when Elon Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter.

Musk has recently said that the problem is a general one regarding the stock market itself that results from rising bank account interest rates and general market volatility rather than any specific challenge facing Tesla. But critics still point to Musk’s general distraction as a contributor to the company’s poor performance with investors of late.