Musk says Tesla's total headcount will increase

The original news about job cuts sent Tesla shares down by 9% on Friday.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk now says he expects the overall headcount at the electric automaker to grow over the next year.

He also said the number of salaried staff should be little changed.

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This comment came in a tweet on Saturday, just a couple days after Musk, in an email seen by Reuters, said that Tesla would pause hiring and that 10% of its workforce would be cut.

The tweet was in response to a Twitter follower making a "prediction" that Tesla's headcount would increase over the next 12 months.

Tesla

 Elon Musk Tesla CEO ((Photo by Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)

It has been a busy week for comments on the Tesla workforce.

MUSK SAYS TESLA TO PAUSE HIRING, WANTS TO CUT 10% OF STAFF: REPORT

Friday morning came the report that Musk said he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy and mentioned the job cuts.

That news sent Tesla shares down by 9% on the day.

Last month, a Twitter user asked Musk, "Do you still think we're approaching a recession?"

"Yes, but this is actually a good thing," the Tesla CEO responded. "It has been raining money on fools for too long. Some bankruptcies need to happen."

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
TSLA TESLA INC. 175.79 -4.04 -2.25%

The news about job cuts came just two days after the world's richest man told employees to return to the workplace or leave the company.

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Tesla had around 100,000 employees at the end of 2021, according to its annual SEC filing.

Reuters contributed to this report.