Elon Musk has said he must agree to all hiring decisions at Tesla

(Reuters) Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc, said the company cannot hire new employees unless he personally approves them, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters.

“Nobody can join Tesla, even as a contractor, until you receive my approval via email,” Musk said in an email on Monday.

According to the email, Musk told the executives to send him a list of job requests on a weekly basis, while also warning them to “think carefully” before making such requests.

Last month, the company published Lowest quarterly gross margin In two years, missing market estimates, as it is Strongly lower prices In markets including the United States and China to stimulate demand and fend off increased competition.

Musk said last year that he had a “very bad feeling” about the future of the US economy, and as a result planned to cut 10% of jobs at the company. But he later clarified that the jobs that will be eliminated are salaried jobs and that the company will do so Continue to hire hourly workers It increased production at two new plants in Texas and Germany.

Tesla ended 2022 with 127,855 employees, up about 29,000, or nearly 30 percent, from the previous year, according to a company filing.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Musk appointed former head of advertising at NBCUniversal Linda Iaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter last week. He said on Friday that hiring Yaccarino would allow him to spend more time running Tesla.

The billionaire is expected to address Tesla shareholders on Tuesday at the automaker’s annual meeting at its corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas.

— CNN’s Chris Isidore contributed to this report