Elon Musk fires hundreds of Tesla employees in New York
'18.04.2024'
Alina Prikhodko
Tesla is restructuring and laying off 285 employees in New York state. According to CNBC, most of these employees worked at the company's plant in Buffalo, and some worked in stores and service centers around the state.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent a memo to company employees saying the automaker would cut more than 10% of its workforce worldwide. Expected that employee layoffs will begin on July 15, 2024.
Buffalo plant
Tesla acquired the Buffalo plant after it bought SolarCity for $2017 billion in 2,6. Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity was widely criticized as an attempt by Musk to salvage his relatives' investments.
Musk funded and co-founded SolarCity with his cousins, Lyndon and Peter Rive. He served as chairman of the board of directors. Musk's other company, SpaceX, bought SolarCity bonds, and if it went bankrupt, they too would lose their investment.
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State taxpayers contributed about $1 billion to build the Buffalo plant, including equipment purchases. By doing so, they hoped to support the creation of thousands of high-tech jobs in the region. Although Tesla has said it will produce solar panels at the Buffalo plant, its efforts to grow that business have failed over the years.
Tesla's solar installations fell to a total of 2023 megawatts in 223, down 36% from the previous year (348 megawatts). This is Tesla's lowest solar deployment since 2020, when it reported 205 megawatts.
New development vectors
Tesla's energy division still generates most of its revenue from sales of backup batteries, also known as battery energy storage systems. They are used in residential, commercial and utility projects.
Instead of making solar panels as its core business in Buffalo, Tesla assembles its supercharging equipment there. Part of the Autopilot data labeling team was transferred there. The company told shareholders it would manufacture supercomputing equipment in Buffalo.
Musk wrote in his social network Xthat he does not put the company at stake, but puts maximum effort and perseverance in achieving his goals. Tesla plans to discuss first-quarter results with shareholders on April 23. Company executives are then expected to reveal more about the restructuring and future strategy.
