President Joe Biden dismissed Elon Musk’s concerns about an upcoming recession at a Friday event amid the tech billionaire’s calls to cut 10% of Tesla’s employment.
Musk told company executives Thursday he has a “super bad feeling” about the economy and plans to cut 10% of Tesla’s job positions, Reuters reported. In a Friday email, the Tesla CEO told employees about the cut due to the company becoming “overstaffed in many areas.”
“While Elon Musk is talking about that, Ford is increasing their investment overwhelmingly,” the president said. “I think Ford is increasing their investment in building new electric vehicles [by] 6,000 new employees, union employees I might add, in the Midwest. The former Chrysler corporation, Stellantis, they are making similar investments in electric vehicles. Intel is adding 20,000 new jobs for making computer chips. So, lots of luck to his trip to the moon.”
Musk’s new announcement came just a few days after he reportedly ordered Tesla employees to spend a minimum of 40 hours per week in the office to depart the company if they wish to work remotely, Electrek first reported Wednesday. An annual SEC filing report found that Tesla and its subsidiaries had over 100,000 employees in 2021, according to Reuters. (RELATED: ‘He’s Still Sleeping’: Elon Musk Drags Biden After Historic SpaceX Mission)
“Elon Musk has a uniquely informed insight into the global economy,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said, according to Reuters. “We believe that a message from him would carry high credibility. If the world’s largest EV company warns on jobs and the economy, investors should reconsider their forecasts on margins and top-line growth.”
At Friday’s address, the president touted the creation of 8.7 million new jobs since he assumed office in January 2021. He tried to ease people’s fears about a recession by touting a “healthy economy” through rising wages and job creation.
“We aren’t likely to see the kind of blockbuster job reports month after month like we had over this past year, but that’s a good thing,” Biden said. “That’s a sign of a healthy economy, with steady growth, rising wages for working families, everyday costs easing up and shrinking the deficit. That stability puts us a strong position to tackle what is clearly a problem: Inflation.”
The country has been hit with 40-year record high inflation that has contributed to gas prices exceeding $4 per gallon and a high cost of living for Americans.