Tesla Interns Face The Heat Of Musk's Budget Squeeze

Tesla Inc TSLA has left aspiring summer interns in a quandary, rescinding offers shortly before their scheduled start dates. 

The abrupt decision has left many students scrambling to secure alternative opportunities.

"At 8:46a.m., I opened a Tesla email for flight info. By 11:25a.m., my internship offer was gone," wrote Miami University student Joshua Schreiber, who expressed dismay over the timing, mere weeks before his internship was due to commence, Bloomberg reports.

The sudden withdrawal of internship offers has caught many students off guard as they approach the end of the academic year, leaving them with limited time to secure replacements.

Diana Rosenberg, a Tesla employee, reached out on LinkedIn, urging her network to consider hiring one of the affected interns, attributing the rescinded offers to the company's recent layoffs.

CEO Elon Musk previously announced a 10% global workforce reduction at Tesla, with further cuts expected.

Also Read: Millions For What? Tesla Reportedly Took $17M In Federal Charging Grants Before Elon Musk Laid Off Supercharger Team

Concerns over declining electric vehicle sales and high expenditures fuel these decisions.

Tesla reported an 8.5% year-on-year decline in first-quarter deliveries, with 386,810 vehicles delivered across the world. 

Earlier this week, Tesla's senior director of charging infrastructure, Rebecca Tinucci, stepped down. A mail from Musk to other Tesla executives fired about 500 people from Tinucci's supercharger group.

Musk said that the company will continue to grow its supercharger network but at a "slower pace" for new locations. 

At the end of the first quarter, Tesla had 57,579 Supercharger connectors and 6,249 stations worldwide. 

Despite the potential marginal savings, revoking intern offers may impact Tesla's talent pipeline, as the company typically hires over 3,000 interns annually.

Tesla stock has gained more than 12% in the last 12 months. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY and Fidelity MSCI Consumer Discretionary Index ETF FDIS.

Price Action: At the last check Thursday, TSLA shares were trading lower by 0.29% at $179.47.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Read Next: Elon Musk's Starlink Nears Yemen License: Report

Photo courtesy: Tesla