Electric automotive company Tesla has said it will cut its workforce by 7% following the most challenging year in the company’s history to date.

Tesla which is an employer of more than 45,000 people could cut as many as 3,000 jobs following their most successful year to date.

Tesla’s CEO and co-founder Elon Musk added that Tesla would need to make the cuts to jobs while simultaneously increasing the production of the Model 3 vehicles.

The decision comes at a time where Musk was under intense scrutiny for threatening to take Tesla: a publicly traded company private.

Musk argued he had little choice but to reduce the number of full-time employees so as to retain only the most critical temps and contractors.”

Tesla who have only been producing cars for a decade only started their rapid expansion in 2018.

Tesla’s prominence is expected to emerge in the coming years where tighter rules on emissions are expected to push them to the front of vehicle manufacturers as the leading electric car company.

The Tesla board are said to be concerned with the number of scandals emerging around Elon Musk and are concerned that the scandals may hinder the flow of production.