According to a recent report, Tesla’s rankings at job websites have dropped significantly following a series of layoffs and cost-cutting measures at the company, indicating a drop in morale amongst Elon Musk’s employees.
Reuters reports that Tesla Inc’s rankings at both LinkedIn and Glassdoor have dropped significantly in recent months. In April, the company held the 16th place on LinkedIn’s annual “Top Companies 2019” list which was based on actions taken by LinkedIn’s 600 million users who ad express interested in or demand for the company. In 2018, Tesla was fifth on the list while in 2016 the company was sixth.
At Glassdoor, a popular company review site, Tesla’s company rating fell from 3.6 stars to 3.2 based on reviews written in the first quarter. The average rating of nearly 1 million employers reviewed by employees on the site was 3.4 putting Tesla .2 stars below the company average. The company’s “recommend to a friend” rating on Glassdoor fell to 49 percent from a high of 71 percent two years prior.
Glassdoors rating for culture and values, senior leadership, career opportunities, and six-month positive business outlook all dropped significantly while work-life balance and compensation and benefits stayed the same. None of Glassdoor’s metrics for Tesla improved whatsoever. When asked by Reuters about the rankings, a Tesla spokesperson stated that that company was still a highly sought after employer and received over half a million job applications in 2017 and again in 2018. The firm reportedly expected to exceed that figure in 2019.
Tesla shares have fallen by 39 percent this year with a number of scandals and financial hardships affecting the firm. Job-post scraping site Thinkum reports that Tesla has 1,110 jobs posted on its website, down from 2,510 in January. In May, U.K. investment firm Barclays cut its 12-month price target for Elon Musk’s electric car manufacturer Tesla to $150. The firm claimed that Tesla is “stalling as a niche automaker” and that the market is finally adjusting based on the realities of Tesla’s business model.
Investors have reportedly begun to question the company’s long term business strategy as concerns over lack of demand continue to grow. The company is also struggling to deal with rising costs despite a capital raise and have implemented extreme cost-cutting measures. As part of these measures, Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn will be reviewing and signing every page of outgoing payments while CEO Elon Musk will be reviewing and signing every tenth page. Musk warned that company cost-cutting measures will be “hardcore,” now sources say that Tesla facilities are going to extreme measures to reduce costs, including cutting down the ordering of office supplies and even refusing to order toilet paper.
One source stated that employees have begun bringing their own toilet paper from home in order to reduce overheads. Tesla is also cutting down on other employee benefits such as stipends given to employees for cellphone plans. Expenses that are not considered to be “essential” for the production, sales, and delivery of Tesla vehicles are reportedly being reviewed.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com