Heads are rolling.
Executive Exodus
Yet another Tesla executive has left the company, adding to a growing list of senior staff who have parted ways.
And this time it was the woman in charge of human resources, Allie Arebalo, who reported directly to CEO Elon Musk and was let go this week, according to Bloomberg‘s sources.
The news comes after Musk slammed the automaker with two rounds of mass layoffs in a matter of a single month, reportedly affecting up to 20 percent of Tesla’s global headcount.
Simply put, the company is in dire straits. Investors are concerned about Tesla’s “nightmare” year ahead, with sales dropping precipitously as cheaper alternatives are set to flood markets.
Then there’s Musk’s wandering vision and questionable leadership. His bizarre political outbursts have tanked the carmaker’s reputation, and investors seem unconvinced by his doubling down on “self-driving” and AI tech.
Skedaddle
Arebalo’s departure is only the latest in a growing number of senior executives who have left the ailing company, including the VP of powertrain and energy engineering Drew Baglino, head of public policy Rohan Patel, and VP of investor relations Martin Viecha.
Earlier this week, senior director of EV charging Rebecca Tinucci was let go as well, alongside her 500-person-strong team. Musk hasn’t wasted any time doubling down on that decision, pulling out of several Supercharger station leases.
That’s despite reportedly sucking up more than $17 million in federal grants for its Supercharger network.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Tesla had also backed away from developing a next-generation “gigacasting” process, its pioneering manufacturing process, suggesting the company’s also greatly scaling back its ambitions when it comes to making cars.
Even Tesla’s summer intern program was slashed, despite likely making no impact on the company’s bottom line and interrupting the company’s hiring pipeline.
In an email obtained by Electrek, Musk said he wanted Tesla to be “absolutely hard core” about layoffs, threatening to sack executives whose subordinates “don’t obviously pass the excellent, necessary and trustworthy test.”
Considering the huge swathe of senior executives who have since abandoned ship, it sounds like a lot of people Musk hired weren’t passing his own stringent standards.
More on Tesla: Tesla Sucked Up Federal Funding for Supercharger Network Before Firing Whole Department
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