Tesla Fires Entire US Growth Team Created Only 4 Months Ago

Tesla has made significant job cuts, including the elimination of its newly formed marketing team, in a surprising reversal of CEO Elon Musk’s earlier endorsement of traditional advertising. The entire US “growth content” team, comprised of about 40 employees overseen by senior managers Alex Ingram and Jorge Milburn, has been let go.

The company still has a small marketing staff in Europe. Musk expressed dissatisfaction with the team’s work, stating that the ads were too generic and could have represented any car.

This move signifies a retreat from Tesla’s previous advertising initiatives, as the company had previously relied on word-of-mouth and eschewed traditional advertising methods. This shift came after Musk’s announcement last year that Tesla would experiment with advertising.

The decision to cut the marketing team comes amid growing pressure from investors for Tesla to enhance its marketing efforts, particularly as global electric vehicle sales have slowed and more competitors have entered the market. Additionally, the company’s foray into advertising aligns with Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which was an attempt to address declining ad revenue and content moderation concerns.

The reorganization within Tesla’s marketing team is part of the broader restructuring that saw the company’s largest-ever job cuts, impacting over 10% of its global workforce. Bloomberg has reported that Musk is pushing for a 20% reduction, which could mean further job eliminations.

As a consequence, Tesla’s shares fell by 3% in New York, reflecting the company’s recent challenges. This year, the stock has experienced a significant decline and ranks as the second-worst performer in the S&P 500 Index.