More than 2,000 employees in Austin were affected by Tesla layoffs

Editor's Note: The video above is from a KXAN report dated April 15, 2024.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thousands of Tesla employees in Austin were left scrambling to find a job after recent layoffs.

Earlier this month, KXAN reported the Austin-based company was laying off more than 10% of its global workforce.

According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter sent to the Texas Workforce Commission, Tesla has fired 2,688 of its employees in Austin.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk detailed the plans in a memo sent to employees.

Musk's memo said that as Tesla prepares for its next phase of growth, “it is critically important to look at every aspect of the company to reduce costs and increase productivity,” the New York Times and CNBC reported.

KXAN has reached out to Tesla for additional comment but has not yet received a response.

“It's just crazy”

KXAN spoke with an employee in Austin who was let go. They asked us to hide their identity.

The person said he woke up to an email on the morning of April 15 with details about the layoffs.

The email was titled “Tesla Employment Update,” and informed some employees that they were being terminated immediately.

“Your last day of work will be today, April 14, 2024. As of now, you will not need to perform any additional work and therefore will no longer have access to Tesla's systems and physical locations,” the email sent to KXAN read.

The employee said they were completely shocked.

“It was out of nowhere. I wasn't expecting it. I was thinking I was going to wake up later today and get ready for work,” the employee said. “I just want to cry.”