Fox News reports Tesla is preparing to lay off more than 10% of its global workforce following weak first-quarter deliveries and increasing competition in the electric vehicle (EV) market, according to a report.

A leaked internal email from CEO Elon Musk said that the automaker is looking to cut costs and increase productivity after years of rapid growth that have led to duplication in some roles and functions in certain areas of the company, tech publication Electrek reported.

The world’s most valuable automaker employs about 140,473 workers worldwide. The reported staffing reduction will affect about 15,000 employees.

The reported lay-offs come after Electrek reported that Tesla had told managers to identify critical team members, paused some stock rewards, canceled some workers’ annual reviews, and reduced production at Gigafactory Shanghai.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Tesla’s quarterly deliveries declined for the first time in nearly four years and fell short of Wall Street analysts’ estimates. Tesla announced at the time that it delivered roughly 387,000 vehicles in the first quarter – well below expectations of about 443,000 and an 8.5% decrease compared to the first quarter of last year.

The automaker has also faced an escalating price war in China, a key market for the EV maker, as low-cost competitors like BYD forced it to reduce prices and cut into its margins.