Elon Musk says he has a "very bad feeling" about the US economy to the point where he is considering shedding 10% of Tesla's workforce, and freezing hiring, according to a report.

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This comment from Musk comes after the forecast for the American economy by Jamie Dimon, president of JPMorgan Chase, who said this week that a “hurricane is coming our way”.

In an email sent to Tesla employees, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, Musk explained that he was "suspending all Tesla hiring globally."

This new communication comes two days after the billionaire declared that working from home was no longer acceptable within his company.

These statements are in addition to several other comments from American leaders who fear a recession.

Last week Musk tweeted that he thought it would be good for the economy to go into recession and that "some bankruptcies are bound to happen."

When asked if a recession would be a good thing, he added “Yes! It's been raining money on fools for too long,” reports the New York Post.

“Some bankruptcies have to happen. Also, with COVID keeping people at home, some think we don't need to work hard anymore."

The richest man in the world believes that a recession in the current environment could last between 12 and 18 months.

Shares of electric car maker Tesla fell on Wall Street on Friday after news reports of an email from Elon Musk mentioning the need to cut the company's workforce by 10%.

The title lost 4.9% around 1:00 p.m. GMT in electronic trading preceding the opening of the official session.

According to its annual report, Tesla and its subsidiaries employed just over 100,000 people at the end of 2021. A reduction of 10% would therefore correspond to the elimination of approximately 10,000 jobs.

The group did not immediately respond to a request from AFP.