Tesla fires hundred of employees after annual performance review

Tesla Motors has fired between 400 to 700 employees after completing its annual performance review, as reported by the Mercury News. The firing of the employees comes at a time when the company is planning to ramp up the production of Model 3 units. According to the report, the employees were not even given a proper notice before termination.

Tesla told the Mercury News that most of the departures were in administrative and sales positions, outside of manufacturing. The company declined to give the overall number of employees that have been laid off.

The company said the dismissals were a result of an annual performance review conducted by the company and insisted they were not layoffs. Some workers received promotions and bonuses, and the company expects to hire for the “vast majority” of new vacancies, a spokesman said.

Tesla claims the firings will have little effect on the roughly 10,000 strong factory workforce. Recently, Tesla CEO Elon Musk delayed the unveiling of the semi-electric truck to focus on production of the Model 3. More than half a million people are on the waiting list for the Model 3, which is priced at $35,000.