Tesla employees officially called for Elon Musk’s resignation, citing the CEO’s role in a significant decline in demand that has hit the company hard.
One employee was terminated as a result of this incident.
Across the political spectrum, it’s undeniable that numerous Tesla employees still support CEO Elon Musk despite his pervasive politicization, regardless of whether they share his political views or are inspired by his vision for Tesla to evolve into a cutting-edge AI and robotics pioneer.
Some Tesla employees are skeptical about Elon Musk’s vision for the company.
A growing sentiment within Tesla’s ranks has emerged, acknowledging that Musk’s current approach is inadvertently undermining the company’s mission to accelerate the adoption of electric transportation by alienating a significant portion of its customer base and politicizing its products.
In 2024, Tesla’s gross sales experienced a rare and significant decline after a decade of steady growth, and this downward trend continued to intensify in the first quarter of 2025.
Tesla is struggling to sustain sales momentum for the Model Y in Q1, despite its recent release, amid mounting evidence suggesting demand is cratering despite increased availability.
While some Tesla employees privately acknowledge the impact of Elon Musk’s erratic behavior on demand, there are growing concerns that the company is willfully ignoring this trend.
As a group of current and former Tesla employees, we penned an open letter.
The damage inflicted on Elon’s personal brand is now irreparable, and since he is also the public face of Tesla, we are left to bear the consequences of his actions. At a critical juncture, we must decide whether to press forward with Elon as CEO, risking further erosion of client loyalty, or take a bold step and let our products and vision stand or fall on their own merit without his involvement.
Despite their hopes, Musk and the board have callously disregarded the pleas for relief.
When Elon Musk announced his intention to refocus on Tesla, dedicating significantly less time to DOGE-related endeavors during the company’s earnings call last month, many within the Tesla staff viewed it as a prime example of his prioritization.
Elon’s latest declaration that he’s “refocusing” on Tesla strikes as tone-deaf, and worse, an outright insult. The difficulties faced over the past six months are likely rooted in a lack of attention rather than any deliberate action taken by him. The narrative skillfully redirects attention to the collective shoulders of those who have borne responsibility for this organization’s trajectory. Let’s be crystal-clear: we are not the problem. Our merchandise aren’t the issue. While our engineering, service, and supply groups may have their own challenges, they are not the root of the problem. The issue is demand. The issue is Elon.
While EV sales shone brightly with a 10% increase in Q1 US figures, Tesla’s performance took a hit, slipping 9% compared to the same period.
Despite initially citing the upcoming Model Y as the reason, the company’s team has since revealed that hundreds of the latest Model Y vehicles are currently stored in inventory.
A mounting inventory of unsold vehicles continues to grow each week. Manufacturing is thriving at unprecedented levels. High quality is excessive. Processes are sturdy. Demand is what’s damaged. This isn’t a product drawback. It’s a management drawback.
According to Electrek, a surge of brand-new Model Ys has emerged as inventory vehicles, despite Tesla only recently opening up orders.
Shareholders are formally requesting that Tesla moves forward without Elon Musk at the helm.
Tesla managed to move forward. We’re fully equipped to move forward without Elon at the helm as CEO.
Matthew LaBrot, one of several Tesla employees involved in the letter, has been terminated from the company, allegedly due to his association with the letter.
A former employee publicly shared details about his termination online, citing the very same reason on his professional networking platform?
LaBrot spent more than five years at Tesla, serving as Workers Programme Supervisor for Sales and Supply Training Initiatives for the past three years.
Despite attempts to create an additional X account to disseminate the letter, the platform – controlled by Musk, self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” – swiftly suspended the effort.
As Tesla’s production demands surge, the company has instructed employees working on Cybertruck and Model Y lines at its Gigafactory Texas facility to take an entire week off to ensure their well-being is not compromised by the intense workload.
Electrek’s Take
I’m pleased to note that certain Tesla employees have effectively countered the prevailing misconception that demand for their products is nonexistent. The letter’s thought-provoking framework effectively conveyed its message about the current situation. Is Elon Musk the root cause of Tesla’s current problems?
Despite Tesla’s history of struggles with self-driving technology, simply ignoring its flaws in hopes that a breakthrough will materialize won’t erase them.
Regrettably, Tesla’s stance suggests that introducing factual context to this narrative may result in termination.
It’s a bleak era for a previously trailblazing company that had a profound impact on the automotive industry and spearheaded the electrification movement, leaving a lasting legacy in its wake.
