Tesla Is on a Hiring Spree to Try to Reach 500,000 Annual Car Deliveries The carmaker is also recruiting part-time staff because it doesn't have to buy them laptops, according to a report.
By Grace Dean
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This story originally appeared on Business Insider
Tesla has hired about 1,000 sales and delivery staff across North America over the past two months, sources familiar with the matter told Electrek, as it works towards its 500,000 annual deliveries target.
Tesla is also using a new recruitment strategy, the sources said, focusing on hiring part-time sales and delivery workers. This allows the company to save costs, the source added, because part-time employees have fewer benefits and Tesla doesn't have to supply them with laptops and cellphones.
Tesla didn't reply to Business Insider's request for comment.
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In October, Tesla blew past analyst estimates as it posted its most profitable quarter ever. This marked Tesla's fifth consecutive profitable quarter, and put it on track to turn its first-ever annual profit.
The automaker wants to reach 500,000 deliveries this year. To achieve this, Tesla needs to deliver 181,000 electric vehicles in the final three months of the year — 30% more than the third quarter. In an earnings call in October, Tesla acknowledged that the goal has "become more difficult," but said it could reach the target it if produces more Model Y and Shanghai vehicles, as well as making its logistics and delivery more efficient.
During the pandemic, Tesla has sparked criticism over the way it treats its employees. In May, the company defied local shelter-in-place orders to restart manufacturing. Soon after, "several" employees at its factories reportedly tested positive for Covid-19.
In June, the company reportedly fired at least five people at its factory in California for staying home amid the pandemic. CEO Elon Musk had previously told staff they were not obligated to come to work. One employee told The Washington Post he was fired after staying home because his one-year-old son had a respiratory condition.
Throughout the pandemic, Musk has been a vocal opponent of lockdown measures. He urged leaders to "give people their goddamn freedom back," and even filed a lawsuit against Alameda County, California, for making the company temporarily stop manufacturing at its Fremont factory.
