According to media reports, Tesla has recently posted over a dozen positions in the fields of Autopilot autonomous driving systems and artificial intelligence, marking the first signs of workforce growth after several weeks of consecutive layoffs.
As of May 23rd, Tesla's recruitment page listed 17 vacant positions within the "Autopilot & Robotics" department in the San Francisco area. These positions primarily focus on engineering roles for Tesla's driver-assistance division, with two also being research positions in artificial intelligence.
Previously, due to declining electric vehicle sales, Tesla announced a 10% global workforce reduction, expected to continue through June. During the mass layoffs, the company's recruitment website was mostly empty, with only positions for three manufacturing development projects in Texas, California, and Nevada listed in recent weeks.
Simultaneously with the layoffs, Tesla has intensified its focus on manufacturing autonomous taxis. CEO Elon Musk stated that he now primarily views Tesla as an artificial intelligence, robotics, and sustainable energy company.
Before the layoffs, Musk claimed in a series of posts on Twitter that competitors like OpenAI had been actively recruiting Tesla engineers. He stated that Tesla had to increase the compensation for its artificial intelligence engineering team members, claiming the team consists of "over 200 great engineers."
New positions within Tesla's Autopilot and robotics business outline rough salary estimates ranging from $104,000 to $360,000 per year, plus cash, stock incentives, and various benefits.
Tesla has already released a product called "Full Self-Driving" (FSD), which in reality requires users to keep their hands on the steering wheel and remain attentive to road conditions. Musk has long promised that cars will soon achieve fully autonomous driving, but he also admits that perfecting this technology is more challenging than initially anticipated.
