Elon Musk axes Tesla summer internships in latest cost-cutting move

Recent reports have suggested that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has rescinded summer internship offers less than a month before the start date.

The reports emerged after Bloomberg first reported that summer interns were Musk’s “latest cost-cutting victims” after the company’s layoffs earlier this year.

This move by Musk, 52, has left ambitious college students scrambling to find new professional opportunities.

According to the Business Insider, two students, who were supposed to begin their Tesla summer internships in three weeks, posted on LinkedIn saying that they had their offers revoked.

Joshua Schreiber, a Miami University student, said in his LinkedIn post that he had received an email from Tesla about flight information, but less than three hours later, his internship was "gone."

"Yes, it sucks my start date was 3 weeks away. Yes, it sucks I spent thousands on housing," he wrote. "Yes, it sucks to experience this in college."

In his post, Schreiber added that his “favorite quote continues to be 'We're not the product of our circumstance, but a product of our response.'"

However, he continues to be "optimistic" and open to new roles.

Additionally, Brook Gura, a communications student at the University of Texas at Austin, said she had received a call on Tuesday about her internship offer being rescinded.

Gura chalked it up to Tesla's recent layoffs.

It is unclear how many other offers have been revoked.

Tesla hires over 3,000 college students each year for internships, according to a 2022 impact report by the company.

Last month, the Texas-based electric vehicle maker cut more than 10% of its workforce its CEO has indicated that more cuts may be expected.

In an email, earlier this week, the tech billionaire announced that two senior executives were leaving and their divisions were being dissolved.