According to Bloomberg, Tesla is currently looking to hire nearly 800 new employees. This comes just three months after Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the company's largest round of layoffs in its history.
Bloomberg's analysis indicates that in recent weeks, Tesla has been recruiting AI experts and some general service positions. Although these 800 new positions are far fewer than the thousands of jobs Tesla cut this year, and the publicly listed positions may not fully reflect the company's hiring situation, the new job postings give us a glimpse into Tesla's current priorities.
In May of this year, only three job positions were posted on Tesla's website. Previously, Tesla's Q1 deliveries fell by 20% quarter-on-quarter, prompting Musk to push for a corresponding reduction in headcount.
Now, many of the positions Tesla hopes to fill are concentrated in AI and robotics, including Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus. At least 25 positions are related to autonomous driving development or Autopilot, and at least 30 positions are related to Optimus. Currently, Tesla is intensifying its autonomous driving development work as the company prepares to launch a robotaxi in October.
Apart from reflecting Musk's vision for Tesla, the hiring spree may also replenish departments that were previously over-reduced. Musk now views Tesla more as an AI, robotics, and sustainable energy company rather than an electric vehicle company.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment on the above report.
In the talent recruitment related to Tesla's AI and robotics ambitions, the company will face fierce competition, including from Musk's other companies. In April, Musk admitted that Tesla had to raise salaries to retain people interested in moving to xAI or OpenAI.
In mid-May, Tesla quietly posted 17 AI and robotics-related positions. By July 10, the number of related positions had steadily climbed to about 130.
Industry insiders point out that outside of the AI field, Tesla's rapidly expanding energy storage business will also be a key long-term growth area. When announcing its latest quarterly vehicle delivery figures this month, Tesla stated that it had deployed almost as many energy storage products in the first half of this year as it did in the entire year of 2023.
Meanwhile, Tesla's vacancies page lists dozens of energy-related positions, including engineering positions and jobs related to installing Megapacks and solar products, in locations such as Palo Alto and Lathrop, California.
In addition, Tesla's customer-facing service department is also hiring. As of July 15, Tesla listed 268 service-related positions, including 77 service technicians, far exceeding any other positions or departments.
Many of these service positions may operate outside Tesla showrooms. The company also posted over 60 sales and customer support positions. Former regional operations head of Tesla, Mat Fisher, who previously led the sales and service teams, said he was surprised to see many service employees let go before the summer. Summer is usually busy for service centers as cars and their air conditioning systems are used more, increasing maintenance needs.
To cope with the drop in demand, Tesla significantly cut its sales staff earlier this year. Musk wanted the company's vehicles to be sold mainly online and ordered as easily as snapping up goods from Amazon. However, many new electric vehicle customers still have questions about battery range, charging, and software features.
Additionally, Tesla has rehired some employees from its Supercharger team, which once had nearly 500 people and was responsible for building the company's public charging station network. Earlier this year, Musk almost cut the entire department.
Although only a few charging-related positions have appeared on the Tesla website for its Buffalo, New York factory, some former employees have been rehired or announced their return on LinkedIn. Musk has said that the company will still invest more than $500 million in its charging business this year.
June and July job postings show that Tesla is looking to add employees in multiple locations, including Palo Alto, Fremont, and Lathrop in California; Austin and Robstown in Texas; Sparks in Nevada; and Buffalo in New York. In addition to AI and energy-related positions, there are also openings in construction and facilities, manufacturing, engineering, and supply chain.
