Elon Musk Sacks Tesla’s Christopher Bousigues, Amid Plan To Fire 9,000 Workers

The country manager of Tesla in Singapore, Christopher Bousigues, has been sacked from his role by Elon Musk, a week after the world’s richest person threatened to terminate the contract of his workers over work-from-home policy.

Bousigues made the revelation on his LinkedIn page during the weekend, stating that he was one of the 10% workers that were laid off as requested by Musk in a leaked email to top executives.

This means before the year runs out, the Tesla CEO will sack about 9,000 workers, out of its 99,000 workers, which includes Nigerians.

While he didn’t link his termination to Musk’s declaration that remote work should be halted, and top executives at the company should resume working from Tesla’s office or exit the company, he said “when a door closes, a gate somewhere else opens.”

Musk had hinted on Twitter that he doesn’t favour work-from-home policy, cause the Tesla office shouldn’t become a remote station for workers, rather, a full time work environment. He said considering for remote policy will only be extended to those that have given significant contribution, which Musk said he doubt exist.

Explaining the reason he made his termination public, Bousigues said transparency is key for him, as he wonder if he should keep silent and not reveal his sack.

His LinkedIn statement reads, “Tesla announced a 10% of workforce reduction. My role was chosen to be eliminated as of today. I am proud to have been the company’s first country manager in South East Asia, and establishing the business in Singapore.

“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.

“I wish to sincerely thank all those that have supported me on this journey. When something like this happens, you wonder what the best course of action is, 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.

“Since I relocated to Singapore strictly for this role, a move back to Europe and Southern France is most likely in the cards for my family and I. See you all after a well-deserved summer break.”