- Elon Musk on Wednesday apologized to fired Tesla employees over a botched severance package.
- The unusual apology came after the EV maker announced it would lay off at least 10% of its workforce.
- Some workers previously told Business Insider they were offered two months' wages as severance pay.
Elon Musk apologized in an email to some fired Tesla employees after it was discovered that their severance pay was “unreasonably low,” according to a screenshot of the email seen by Business Insider. did.
“As we restructured Tesla, we became aware that some severance benefits were unreasonably low,” Musk said in a brief email sent Wednesday. “We apologize for this mistake and it will be corrected immediately.”
The email was first reported by CNBC.
Five laid-off workers previously told BI that some were offered two months' severance pay. Other employees told BI they had not yet received information about their severance pay as of Wednesday night.
According to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, 60 days' wages is the minimum wage that companies with 100 or more employees must lay off if there is no 60-day notice period before mass layoffs. is.
Tesla's CEO announced in a company-wide email Sunday night that the automaker will be cutting more than 10% of its workforce. Some employees only learned they were affected when they came to work on Monday. Some were told by security guards that if their ID badges didn't work, they would lose their jobs.
The mass layoffs come as Tesla faces sharply slowing sales and increased competition from domestic manufacturers in China, its most important market outside the United States.
Tesla has lost some executives in a round of layoffs. Drew Barrino, who has been with the company for 18 years and most recently served as head of powertrain and electrical engineering, said Monday that he had made the “difficult decision” to retire.
Rohan Patel, vice president of public policy and business development, also announced his resignation on Monday.
Musk is also working on a lawsuit brought by four former executives of Twitter Inc. (now Company X). They are suing Musk for $128 million in unpaid severance pay. The plaintiffs are former CEO Parag Agrawal, who was fired after Musk took over Twitter in 2022. Ned Segal, the company's former chief financial officer; former attorney general Vijaya Gadde; Former General Counsel Sean Edgitt.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of normal business hours.
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