Billionaire business magnate Elon Musk has sacked 10 per cent of Tesla’s 140,000 global workforce amid dwindling revenue, high operational costs and a low demand for electric vehicles (EVs).

Mr Musk conveyed the dismissal in bulk emails late Sunday and noted that it was a difficult decision that “must be done,” according to Bloomberg, a British business paper that viewed the email.

“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,” Bloomberg cited Mr Musk as writing in the email.

“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,” the Tesla CEO added. “There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done.”

The dismissal, effective immediately, would result in the loss of jobs for at least 14,000 Tesla employees in different nations.

Already, Andrew Baglino —who until Sunday served as Tesla’s senior vice president for battery development — announced his termination on X, which got a  response from Mr Musk 

“I made the difficult decision to move on from Tesla after 18 years yesterday,” Mr Baglino said. “I will always have a warm spot for the people of Tesla and Tesla products in my heart and wish the team and company the best in the future.”

In response, Mr Musk wrote, “Thanks for everything you’ve done for Tesla. Few have contributed as much as you.”

But analysts said the large layoffs were “ominous” and hinted at a much deeper challenge than Tesla was letting on.

“It’s an ominous sign of some dark days ahead,” LA Times cited Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities’ managing director as saying.  “Streamlining is one thing, but the size of this cut is a concern for a company that’s still in growth mode.”