Tesla’s Singapore country manager was fired after CEO Elon Musk warned earlier this month about global employee reduction amid fears of an anticipated recession.
“Tesla announced a 10% of workforce reduction. My role was chosen to be eliminated as of today,” the former Tesla Singapore manager, Christopher Bousigues, said on his LinkedIn page.
Musk informed Tesla executives in an email that he planned to reduce 10% of jobs, or roughly 10,000 people, and stop hiring globally because he had a “super bad feeling” about the global economy’s future amid the danger of recession.
Tesla, he claimed, would slash salaried employment because it was “overstaffed in many areas.”
Bousigues worked for Tesla as its national manager in Singapore for over a year and was the company’s first Southeast Asia chief.
“Am proud to have been the company’s first country manager in Southeast Asia and establishing the business in Singapore,” said Bousigues.
The former Tesla executive also outlined some critical milestones in expanding the EV company’s operations in Singapore.
“In the past year, the team and I built the business from the ground up, made … the Model 3 a common sight in the Singapore car landscape, set up two showrooms, one service centre (that I affectionately call the Jewel of Asia), developed a network of 7 superchargers across the island, and successfully launched Model Y yesterday with an overwhelming response,” he said.
He stated that his dismissal was related to the job reduction that Tesla had already announced, although he did not elaborate.
Musk confirmed in a letter to employees on June 3 that “Tesla will be reducing salaried headcount by 10% as we have grown overstaffed in many areas.” However, it should be noted that this does not apply to anyone producing cars, battery packs, or installing solar. The hourly labour will increase.”
According to reports, Tesla will not fill Bousigues’ position in Singapore, and Tesla’s Hong Kong headquarters would instead handle activities in Singapore. The former Singapore manager stated that he is returning to Europe after working in Singapore.
“Since I relocated to Singapore strictly for this role, a move back to Europe and Southern France is most likely in the cards for my family and I. See you all after a well-deserved summer break.”
