Tesla, the electric car company, has announced it willy lay off 10% of its global workforce.

“There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done,” Elon Musk, Tesla CEO said in a memo first reported by Electrek.

He said the cuts would enable Tesla to “be lean, innovative, and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.”

Musk assured staff that the decision to lay off 10% of workers, which according to estimates from last December totalled at 140,473 people, was made after a thorough review.

Tesla is yet to reveal its quarterly earnings, which is due later this month, but has suffered a decline in vehicle demands in the first quarter of 2024.

Recently, the company decreased production at its factor in Shanghai, and shortened shifts of workers at its Cybertruck factory in Austin, Texas.

Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) are down across the globe, particularly hitting Tesla, as it solely produces expensive, high-end EVs. Competition from Chinese makers offering cheaper EVs has squeezed the California-headquartered purveyor further – its market share in China fell by 1.1% just in the beginning of the year.

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Shares in Tesla fell by over 30% just this year, and it has performed worse than legacy car makers.

The job cuts should total around 14,000, but the distribution of these cuts remains uncertain.

Tech layoffs have already skyrocketed in 2024, following the scourge of cuts seen in 2023. According to layoffs.fyi, around 60,000 tech workers have already been laid off. Amazon, Snap, PayPal, EA Games have all announced major cuts.