Tesla executive says he's resigned as recent layoffs hurt morale and throw the company 'out of balance'
Elon Musk told staff Tesla planned to cut more than 10% of its workforce in April. VCG/Getty
- Rich Otto, former head of product launches at Tesla, said he resigned last week.
- The executive said the recent Tesla layoffs have thrown the company “out of balance.”
- Otto’s departure follows six other senior-level Tesla executives leaving in recent weeks.
Tesla keeps shedding executives.
Rich Otto, the former head of product launches at Tesla, said on Wednesday that he’d made the decision to resign last week amid the mass layoffs at the company.
“It’s a company I love and that has given me so much, but has also taken its pound of flesh,” Otto wrote on LinkedIn. “Great companies are made up of equal parts great people and great products, and the latter are only possible when its people are thriving. The recent layoffs that are rocking the company and its morale have thrown this harmony out of balance and it’s hard to see the long-game. It was time for a change.”
Otto worked at Tesla for over six years, according to his LinkedIn profile. He said in the post that there are many things he’ll miss about Tesla and he plans to take a break for a while before jumping into another project.
Otto and a spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The executive is one of a handful of higher-ups that have left Tesla over the past month. Six other executives, including the senior director of HR and the senior director of Supercharging, have left the carmaker amid the series of layoffs.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk kickstarted a series of layoffs on April 15 when he told staff he planned to cut more than 10% of the company’s workforce. On Monday, Tesla workers entered their fourth week of layoff notices.
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