Tesla Singapore country manager laid off as part of EV maker’s reduction of its global workforce by 10%

That was fast. A year ago, Christopher Bousigues was appointed as country manager for Tesla Singapore. Now, the Frenchman has announced that he has been laid off, his retrenchment apparently part of global job cuts that Tesla boss Elon Musk has warned about recently, the Straits Times reports.

Bousigues, who was previously with software firms SAP and Microsoft before his Tesla gig, made the announcement via a LinkedIn post over the weekend. “Tesla announced a 10% of workforce reduction. My role was chosen to be eliminated as of today,” he wrote. He added that he was proud to have been the automaker’s first country manager in Southeast Asia, and establishing the business in Singapore.

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

Bousigues said he did not believe in keeping quiet about his job loss. “When something like this happens, you wonder what is the best course of action, and whether to remain discreet or even silent about it. Ultimately that is not how I am built. 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 explained.

The report added that sources familiar with the matter told the publication that Tesla Singapore will not have a country manager after Bousigues’ role was chosen to be eliminated, and that Tesla’s Hong Kong office will now oversee operations in Singapore, similar to how Audi Malaysia is managed by Singapore and Mercedes-Benz’s Indonesian operations overseen by Malaysia.

Earlier this month, having told staff to return to the workplace or leave, as he warned about the risks of recession, Musk told Tesla employees that he could cut 10% of jobs worldwide at the carmaker.

In an e-mail sent to employees, he stated that he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy, and that the company would be reducing the salaried headcount as it has become “overstaffed in many areas.” As of the end of 2021, the company had around 100,000 employees worldwide, it was reported.