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Tesla to lay off nine per cent of workforce

The cuts are part of the brand's endless search for profitability


Tesla will cut thousands of jobs in search of reduced costs and strong profit margins, as part of a restructure promised by Elon Musk last month.

In an internal email to staff, the company's CEO said the cuts were "almost entirely made from [its] salaried population and no production associates were included" which, if the email is to be believed, shouldn't impact Model 3 production numbers.

The cuts amount to around 9.0 per cent of the current workforce, in roles that "made sense in the past" but are "difficult to justify" in the current climate.

Along with the internal cuts, Tesla won't be renewing its solar and battery sales agreement with Home Depot, in an attempt to focus on its own stores and online sales.

Musk didn't suggest the electric car manufacturer won't be hiring in future, using the email to make clear "Tesla will still continue to hire outstanding talent in critical roles", and was at pains to emphasise the "hard decision" was made so the company "never [has] to do this again".

This latest decision, and the subsequent round of headlines, comes after Elon Musk announced the rollout of 'full self-driving features' on cars with Autopilot. A software update in August will give cars with the requisite level of autonomous tech enabled (all Teslas are outfitted for self-driving, but you need to pay to unlock it) features taking them closer to Level 5 autonomy.

Stories about Tesla Model S and Model X owners snoozing, texting and, sadly, crashing with Autopilot enabled abound, in spite of the fact it's only meant to operate under constant driver supervision.

"To date, Autopilot resources have rightly focused entirely on safety," Musk tweeted. "With V9, we will begin to enable full self-driving features."

Want more? Listen to the full discussion below, and check out more of the CarAdvice podcast here.

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