Tesla soars 12% as CEO Elon Musk confirms workforce reduction of 3.5% and says demand for its electric vehicles is 'extremely high'
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- Tesla shares shot up Tuesday as CEO Elon Musk told Bloomberg that demand for its EVs are "extremely high."
- Musk made his comment as the company is in the process of laying off workers.
- Job cuts of 10% of salaried workers means Tesla will reduce its total workforce by up to 3.5%, he said.
Tesla stock jumped Tuesday as CEO Elon Musk in an interview with Bloomberg touted the electric vehicle maker's competitiveness while also clarifying the company's job cuts.
Shares climbed as much as 12% to $728.50, the highest price since June 9. The stock this year has taken a beating in part as the broader tech sector has been knocked down by higher interest rates and recession fears. The stock had lost 38% through Friday's session so far in 2022.
"As anyone knows who has tried to order a Tesla, the demand for our cars is extremely high and the wait list is long," Musk said via video link at the Qatar Economic Forum during his interview with Bloomberg. "This is not intentional … we are increasing production capacity as fast as humanly possible."
He made his comment as he addressed job cuts taking place at the company. Tesla is in the process of laying off 10% of salaried staff. "We grew very fast on the salaried side and we grew a little too fast in some areas, and so it requires a reduction," he said.
With Tesla's workers split at about 66% hourly workers and 33% salaried, the layoffs translate into a cut of around 3% to 3.5% of Tesla's total workforce, Musk said.
Tesla has raised the price of its cars several times this year, and this month increased the prices in the US amid persistent global supply chain issues.
Vehicle production has been ramping up at the company's Shanghai Gigafactory, which was responsible for half of Tesla's global production in 2021. The company had to shut down work at the factory for three weeks in March 2022 because of a citywide lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/xb2olV9
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