Tesla Senior Vice-President Drew Baglino has stepped down amid the electric car maker’s largest-ever job cuts. Tesla is planning to lay off about 10 per cent of its workforce as it tries to cut costs.
The Tesla layoffs come after the company reported dismal first-quarter (Q1) sales. Its CEO Elon Musk detailed the plans in a memo sent to employees. The layoffs could affect about 14,000 of the 140,473 workers employed by the Austin, Texas, company at the end of last year.
Musk’s memo said that as Tesla prepares for its next phase of growth, “it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity”.
Drew Baglino has been one of just four named executive officers at Tesla. He was leading engineering and technology development for the company’s batteries, motors and energy products, according to a Bloomberg report.
Baglino, who has around 18 years of experience, has even co-hosted earnings calls and shared the stage with Elon Musk at multiple events, including Tesla’s investor day last year.
Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk’s biographer, said Drew Baglino is a personable engineer. He recounted a tense first meeting the executive had with the CEO.
“I never want to be in another meeting with Elon,” Walter Isaacson quoted Drew Baglino saying to Tesla co-founder JB Straubel.
Apart from Balino, Tesla Vice-President of Public Policy and Business Development Rohan Patel has also resigned, according to his social media post.
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