1. Renjie Zhu, director of manufacturing engineering at Tesla’s Austin Gigafactory, announced his departure from the company after leading the Cybertruck program.
2. It is not clear if Zhu left due to recent layoffs at Tesla or on his own accord, as at least seven executives have left the company in the past month.
3. Zhu praised his time at Tesla and expressed excitement for a new journey after being with the company for over five years, primarily working on the Cybertruck program.
Renjie Zhu, the director of manufacturing engineering at Tesla’s Austin Gigafactory, announced on LinkedIn that he had left the company following the successful launch of the Cybertruck program. While it is uncertain whether Zhu was laid off or chose to resign, at least seven executives have departed from Tesla over the past month. The former head of product launches cited recent layoffs damaging morale and throwing the company “out of balance” as the reason for his departure.
Despite the challenges, Zhu expressed gratitude for his time at Tesla, highlighting their contributions to sustainable energy and innovative production processes over the past five years. Having worked on the Cybertruck program after moving from Tesla’s Shanghai site in January 2023, Zhu is now prepared to embark on a new journey.
Tesla began delivering the Cybertruck in November after several delays, with Zhu’s role being crucial to the program’s launch. While neither Zhu nor a spokesperson for Tesla has commented on his departure, CEO Elon Musk initiated a wave of layoffs in mid-April with plans to reduce the workforce by over 10%. Employees at Tesla have been receiving layoff notices for the past five weeks. For those with insights into the situation, they can reach out to the reporter via email or phone.