Tesla Is Reportedly Rehiring Some Laid Off Supercharger Employees, Executives The news follows the mass layoff of the 500-person Supercharger team last month.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Weeks after the bombshell news that Elon Musk fired the entire Tesla supercharger overnight, some executives and team members are reportedly being asked to return to the company.
Musk reportedly has brought back the director of charging for North America Max de Zegher, one of the 500 employees let go, according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter.
The outlet did not specify how many employees had been asked back to work, but noted it was more than one.
Per de Zegher's LinkedIn, his position is still listed as "Director — Charging, North America at Tesla," a position he's held for nearly two years.
Last month's layoffs left many employees "in shock" when they were told their positions were defunct.
"In the middle of the night, I learned, along with all my Tesla Global Charging colleagues, the Tesla Charging org is no more," Lane Chaplin, Tesla's former North America real estate lead, wrote on LinkedIn at the time. "Thank you to all who have reached out to me already. Your friendship during the good times as well as the bad is sincerely appreciated."
Musk seemingly addressed the layoffs via X, noting then that Tesla still planned on growing its Supercharger network albeit at a "slower" pace than originally anticipated.
Tesla still plans to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 30, 2024
Tesla Employee Was Sleeping in His Car Before Lay Off
Elon Musk is known for promoting a "hard-core" work culture, and employees have gone to great lengths to comply — some even slept under their desks when Musk took over Twitter.
One former employee, Nico Murillo, recently went viral on LinkedIn for sharing his story of sleeping in he parking lot to avoid a commute before being laid off.
"At one point in 2023, I was even sacrificing sleeping in my car on work days just to avoid commuting to work. Showered at the factory and slept in the parking lot. Microwaved dinner in the break room," the former Tesla Production Supervisor wrote. "Sacrificed a lot for the company. But this is just a small part of a chapter that is ending, and there's a whole book waiting to be written."
Related: Elon Musk Tells Investors Cheaper Tesla Electric Cars Should Arrive Ahead of Schedule
Tesla reported a 9% quarterly revenue decrease during its Q1 2024 earnings call last month, the biggest drop the company has seen since 2012.
Earlier this month, college students reported that the electric vehicle company revoked their offers for summer internships just weeks before they were slated to start without explanation.
Tesla was up just shy of 3% year over year as of Monday afternoon.
