Source: Business Insider
This week, Tesla Inc went on to lay off its Singapore country manager Christopher Bousigues. This was just a week following the EV company’s chief executive Elon Musk warning of global job cuts. On Sunday, June 12, Bousigues took to LinkedIn expressing that his role had been ‘eliminated.’
The former Singapore executive’s LinkedIn profile shows that he was in the position for country manager of Singapore. Additionally, it showed that Tesla employed him just a little over a year. However, Bousigues did not provide a particular reason for his sudden dismissal, but did mention that it was in connection to the job cuts that the electric vehicle maker had previously flagged.
In his post, Bousigues stated how his role was ‘chosen to be eliminated’ out of the 10% workforce that Tesla wished to reduce. He went on to state how he was proud to ‘have been the company’s first country manager in South East Asia.’ He continued to say how him and his team built the business ‘from the ground up,’ making Tesla’s Model 3 a frequent sight in the car landscape of Singapore. Additionally, he noted how they had set up a service centre, 2 showrooms and developed a network consisting of 7 supercharger across Singapore.
With the successful launch of Model Y just a day before his termination, he expressed gratitude to everyone supporting him. Further on, he stated how he chose to be ‘transparent’ and honest by sharing this news, instead of being discreet. Finally, he concluded by saying that he hopes to move back to his home in Southern France as he had relocated to the island only for the job.
Musk’s earlier announcement of 10% employee reduction:
In a letter sent to employees this month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced plans for elimination of ‘salaried headcount by 10%’ claiming to have been ‘overstaffed in several areas. He expressed having a ‘super bad feeling’ about the economy and thinks the job cuts for the EV maker is necessary. Specifically, the message sent to the staff was titled ‘pause all hiring worldwide,’ and came just two days following Musk asking staff to return to office or leave.
Clearly, this had added to the increasing chorus of warnings from business executives regarding the possible risks of recession. According to its annual SEC filing, the electric carmaker employed nearly 100,000 at the company, along with its subsidiaries towards the end of last year.
