Tesla is reportedly looking to hire around 800 new employees, just months after CEO Elon Musk reportedly cut thousands of jobs in the largest layoffs in the company’s history.
Over the past few weeks, Tesla has listed hundreds of new jobs on its website, with a focus on AI specialists and service roles. According to a Bloomberg analysis.
Musk posted on X Both Tesla and his latest AI startup, xAI, are “looking to hire network engineers and technicians.”
The Austin-based company cut thousands of jobs in April, or more than 10% of its workforce, in response to falling auto sales.
In May, Tesla had just three jobs listed on its careers site.
After quarterly car deliveries fell 20% from the previous quarter, Musk called for similar job cuts, Bloomberg reported. report.
According to the media, this would mean Tesla would have to lay off around 28,000 of the more than 140,000 workers it employed at the start of the year.
Now, Musk is looking to hire again, with a focus on AI and robotics, which fit with the company’s new vision. The job ads are also expected to fill vacancies left by positions Musk has cut.
Tesla has rehired some of its laid-off employees, particularly in its Supercharger division, which is working to expand Tesla’s network of charging stations, and many former employees have announced their return to the company on LinkedIn.
During April, Musk acknowledged this in a post on X. He said other AI companies were offering huge compensation to poach Tesla engineers.
The new job listings feature jobs across the country, and roles aren’t just limited to AI and energy, but also include construction, manufacturing, engineering and supply chain jobs.
Bloomberg reports that there are at least 25 job openings related to Autopilot, Tesla’s self-driving car system, and at least 30 related to Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot.
The open positions also include service technicians who will work in Tesla showrooms following mass cuts to showroom sales staff earlier this year.
Musk wants to foster a strong online sales model that will allow consumers to buy Tesla cars with just a click, but because EVs are still new, many customers still have questions that a salesperson could help with.
Matt Fischer, a former sales and service leader at Tesla, told Bloomberg he was surprised that so many service employees were laid off ahead of the summer car-buying season.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
The mass layoffs come as the company reported its first quarterly auto shipments decline since 2020 compared to the same period a year ago.
Tesla reported delivering 386,810 vehicles worldwide in the first three months of 2024. That’s down more than 9% from its sales in the first quarter of 2023 and well below Wall Street’s forecast of 457,000 deliveries.
The value of EV makers lies in the possibility of self-driving cars, but Tesla has yet to develop a fully self-driving car.
The company’s latest self-driving models still require human supervision in case there is a need to intervene and take over driving controls.
Tesla continues to maintain its position as one of the largest EV manufacturers, despite facing stiff competition.
Energy storage is another area the company is focusing on, with the company installing megawatt-hours’ worth of energy storage products in the first half of this year for the full year of 2023, according to Bloomberg.
Therefore, Tesla’s job listings also include several energy-related positions.
Last Thursday, shares plunged nearly 13% after Bloomberg reported the company was delaying its robotaxi launch.
Tesla shares rose about 6% to $264.22 on Monday morning, before dropping to $254.78 by Monday night. By Tuesday morning, the stock had fallen further to $250.40.
Musk, the world’s richest man with a net worth of $252.3 billion, according to Forbes magazine, acknowledged the announcement was delayed because he requested changes to the design and gave his team additional time to develop the vehicle.
The robotaxi is scheduled to be unveiled in October.
