Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, argues that the electric car company needs to "make a 10% reduction in staffing." The tech mogul's assertions appear in an email sent on Thursday to Tesla executives, to which Reuters news agency had access.

In the message, titled "Pause all worldwide hiring," Elon Musk - who is also the richest man in the world - further admits, "I have a very bad feeling about the economy."

According to CNN Portugal, Tesla has not yet officially commented on this issue, despite being contacted by the news agency.

But this is not the first email from Elon Musk to his workers to hit the media. Known for being a strict boss and for not sparing controversy, earlier this week he proved implacable with telecommuting: the head of Tesla sent an email to workers in which he says that "telecommuting was no longer acceptable".

"Anyone wishing to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or leave Tesla. This is less than what we ask of factory workers," the message can be read.

In addition to this intransigence about telecommuting, Elon Musk is known to install security cameras to monitor SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) employees and does not allow lines at the coffee machine, as they hurt productivity.

According to Keith Rabois, a Sillicon Valey entrepreneur who knows Elon Musk well, Twitter employees will have to get ready to "wake up" when he takes over the company's controls.