Tesla fires Singapore country manager after Elon Musk warns of cutting 10% salaried staff

Mr Christopher Bousigues, who Tesla hired in June 2021 to be its first country manager in South East Asia, announced that his role was “eliminated” as of June 12.

Earlier this month, CEO Elon Musk said in a leaked email that he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy and needed to cut around 10 per cent of salaried staff. He also told executives to “pause all hiring worldwide.” One of the jobs that reached the chopping block was that of the Singapore country manager. 

“Tesla announced a 10% of workforce reduction. My role was chosen to be eliminated as of today,” Mr Bousigues wrote in a LinkedIn post.

He also wrote that he was “proud” to have held the position, and highlighted some of his achievements.

“In the past year the team and I built the business from the ground up, made of the Model 3 a common sight in the Singapore car landscape, set up 2 showrooms, 1 service center (that I affectionately call the Jewel of Asia), developed a network of 7 superchargers across the island, and successfully launched Model Y yesterday with overwhelming response.”

Mr Bousigues added that he had come to a decision to announce his termination rather than to “remain discreet or even silent about it.”

“Transparency and honesty are non-negotiable to me, so sharing this news felt like the right thing to do with my network. I profoundly believe that when a door closes, a gate somewhere else opens.”

He ended his post by saying he and his family are headed back to Europe since he had moved to Singapore just for the job.

Many commenters on his LinkedIn post had only gratitude and kind words for the former country manager.

/TISG

Second female employee sues Tesla for sexual harassment, claims ‘hostile work environment’ against women