Tesla Lays Off 200 Workers From California Autopilot Team: Report

Tesla Inc TSLA has laid off 200 salaried and contract workers from its Autopilot team in California, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

What Happened: The California Autopilot team had about 350 employees, some of whom were transferred to a nearby facility. 

The job cuts are the latest and one of the larger ones in a broad workforce reduction at the Elon Musk-led electric vehicle company.

Employees who have been laid off were informed about the decision on Tuesday, the report said, adding that teams at the San Mateo office were tasked with evaluating customer vehicle data related to the Autopilot driver-assistance features and performing so-called data labeling.

See Also: Elon Musk Confirms Tesla Cutting Salaried Workforce By 10% Over Next 3 Months

Why It Matters: Musk this month surprised employees when he confirmed that the EV maker is reducing its salaried workforce by 10% over the next three months.

He had said Tesla's overall immediate headcount will be lower by 3% to 3.5% in the near term but would rise in about a year's time.

The world's richest person explained that Tesla grew very fast on the "salaried side" and a little too fast in some areas. "We expect to grow our hourly workforce."

Austin, Texas-headquartered Tesla had grown to about 100,000 employees globally as it opened new factories in Austin and Berlin.

Price Action: Tesla closed 5% lower at $697.9 on Tuesday, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Photo via Nadezda Murmakova on Shutterstock