Tesla Now Has Nearly 800 New Jobs Open — Up From Only 3 Roles in May The job openings could indicate where Elon Musk wants to steer Tesla next.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- Elon Musk said on Monday that Tesla was looking to hire across multiple roles.
- A Tuesday Bloomberg analysis shows that Tesla has steadily added close to 800 jobs to its careers page in the past few weeks.
- Tesla has laid off at least 14% or about 20,000 people since the end of last year.
Elon Musk says that Tesla now has jobs open — three months after informing Tesla staff about layoffs affecting tens of thousands of people. A new analysis breaks down what these jobs are and where they're located.
On Monday, Musk posted on X that Tesla and xAI, his AI startup taking on ChatGPT, were looking for networking engineers and technicians.
Both @Tesla and @xAI are looking to hire networking engineers & technicians https://t.co/LxpQOpGgz7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024
A Tuesday Bloomberg report noted that in the past few weeks, Tesla has added nearly 800 new roles, up from three roles open in May. Tesla has grown more than $223 billion in market cap in the past 14 trading days according to the analysis, a growth that overlaps with its increased job postings.
Service jobs are the most numerous on Tesla's job board as of Monday, per Bloomberg. Manufacturing, engineering and information, energy solar and storage, AI and robotics, and construction and facilities follow behind.
The job categories open could reflect the direction Musk wants to take Tesla. Musk said on an April earnings call that he sees Tesla as an AI and robotics company more than an EV company.
"If someone does not believe that Tesla can solve autonomy, I don't think they should be an investor in the company," Musk said, at the time.
Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla. Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Of the current listings, at least 30 focus on Optimus, Tesla's human-like robot.
Related: Dell Is Teaming Up With Elon Musk to Build an AI Supercomputer
The new listings may also show which areas were affected too deeply by job cuts earlier this year. Tesla had 140,473 employees at the end of December; by the end of June, the EV maker had laid off at least 14% of its global staff, or nearly 20,000 people, to achieve a 121,000 headcount.
One series of May layoffs saw the entire 500-person supercharging team let go overnight, though Musk reportedly rehired some employees from that team within weeks. Tesla also revoked internship offers to college students weeks before they were set to start.
Most of the job openings are centered in Palo Alto, CA, but there are others open in Fremont, CA; Lathrop, CA; Austin, TX; and Sparks, NV.
Related: Days After Layoffs, Tesla Pushes Stockholders to Approve Elon Musk's $56 Billion Pay Package