Tesla plans to lay off 10% of its global workforce as demand for electric vehicles (EV) declines.

According to a Bloomberg article published on Monday, Elon Musk conveyed the downsizing to employees at the automobile company via a memo.

Musk cited duplication of duties and the necessity to save expenses as reasons for the reduction.

“As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity,” Musk wrote.

“As part of this effort, we have done a thorough review of the organization and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10 per cent globally. There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done.”

Responding to a comment on the planned layoff on X, Musk said “about every five years, we need to reorganize and streamline the company for the next phase of growth”.

If the cuts apply companywide, the dismissal would amount to more than 14,000 employees, the publication noted.

Tesla ended 2023 with 140,473 employees, nearly double its workforce three years ago.

The decision to lay off workers comes as Tesla faces declining sales and an intensifying price war for EVs.

According to the publication, Tesla announced that vehicle deliveries early this month missed expectations by a wide margin, posting its first quarterly decline in four years.

“Several analysts are bracing for the EV maker’s sales to potentially shrink for the year, citing slow output of its newest model, the Cybertruck, and a lull in new products until the company starts producing a next-generation vehicle late next year,” the publication said.

“The EV slowdown Tesla has felt of late has been widespread. China’s BYD Co. delivered just 300,114 battery-electric vehicles in the first quarter, down 43 per cent from the final three months of last year, when it briefly pulled ahead as the world’s top EV seller.”

Manufacturers including Volkswagen AG, General Motors Co., and Ford Motor Co. have delayed, dialled back or altogether scrapped EV projects as customers protest high prices and a scarcity of charging points.

The Oyo state police command on Monday paraded 21 suspects arrested in connection with the invasion of the state secretariat in Ibadan, the state’s capital.

On Saturday, security operatives arrested 16 “gunmen” suspected to be members of a group identified as Oodua nation agitators for invading the state secretariat.

The gunmen, who were said to be dressed in military camouflage, were subdued by security personnel.

The security personnel were able to arrest some of the gunmen while others took to their heels and were pursued into the nearby bushes.

Sources said the gunmen were heading to the Oyo state house of assembly premises located within the secretariat when they were repelled.

They were also said to have removed the Nigerian national flag in the secretariat and replaced it with the “Oodua nation flag”, before the intervention of the security personnel.

In a statement on Monday, the Oyo state police command said 21 “Yoruba Nation Agitators“ have been paraded in Ibadan.

They were paraded alongside seized exhibits such as guns, ammunition, cutlasses, walkie-talkies, and other communication gadgets.

Adebola Hamzat, Oyo state commissioner of police, told journalists that the suspects would be charged with treasonable felony and terrorism.

He added that investigations are ongoing to unmask their sponsors, and other suspects still at large.

• Says He Must Clear His Name Of Corruption Allegations

Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been suspended by members of his ward, the Ganduje Ward in the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State.

The Executive Council of Ganduje Ward led by Haruna Gwanjo made this known during a press briefing in Kano on Monday.

Gwanjo said that the former governor has to clear his name of corruption allegations regarding his long-standing dollar case.

The Kano High Court would arraign Ganduje on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 on charges bordering on allegations of bribery, diversion, and misappropriation of funds, including the purported acceptance of $413,000 and N1.38bn in bribes.

The Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Haruna Dederi, had said Ganduje would be arraigned alongside his wife and six others.

The Kano State Government led by Governor Abba Yusuf, which initiated the criminal suit against the eight respondents, had declared its readiness to present 15 witnesses to testify before Justice Usman Na’aba of State High Court.