TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — Tesla is laying off nearly 2,700 workers at its gigafactory in eastern Travis County – about 12% of the factory's workforce.
Last week, it was reported that Tesla would be laying off 10% of its global workforce, or roughly 14,000 jobs. One report stated that some staff in Texas and California had already been notified of the layoffs as of April 15.
Now a WARN (Work Adjustment & Retraining Notification) notice sent from Tesla to the Texas Workforce Commission confirms that 2,688 of those job cuts will be at the Austin-area gigafactory.
Tesla finished 2023 with nearly 23,000 employees at the gigafactory. According to a report from the Austin Business Journal, that number was up from the 12,277 the company had at the end of 2022.
On April 15, KVUE spoke with one gigafactory employee who had received an email telling him he had been laid off.
"They’re supposed to be leading in innovation ... That would have been the best opportunity for me to learn manufacturing,” Ezkel Love said, adding, "No warning at all. I don’t have a job ... Can’t pay my rent. So, I’ve got to find something else to do to make ends meet."
According to the WARN notice, the 2,688 terminations will take place during a 14-day period beginning on June 14.
Other recent Tesla news
On Monday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that Tesla was cutting the price of its "Full Self Driving" system by about a third, from $12,000 to $8,000.
The price cut on the system comes during what seems to be a challenging time for the electric vehicle maker.
The AP also reported that on April 19, Tesla moved to slash $2,000 off the prices of its Model Y, X and S vehicles in the U.S. Prices for the Model 3 and the Cybertruck stayed the same – though the same day Tesla made the price cuts on the other models, it recalled 3,878 of its 2024 Cybertrucks.
On April 18, three days after the layoffs were initially reported, Tesla's stock dropped below $150 per share, wiping out most of its gains made over the past year. Tesla's stock price has dropped 40% so far this year.
Tesla is the largest private employer in the Austin area.
Boomtown is KVUE's series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.