Tesla Shifts Gears: Mass Layoffs Followed by AI and Robotaxi-Focused Hiring Spree

Tesla reverses course on a tough workforce decision

Tesla (TSLA) appears to be changing its tune on a major workforce decision it made a few months ago. The electric vehicle company, co-founded by Elon Musk, is silently ramping up its headcount as it is looking to push forward a few highly anticipated initiatives. After laying off over 10% of its workforce in April, which left about 14,000 employees without a job, Tesla is now looking to hire roughly 800 new workers in key areas. Related: Tesla layoffs spell trouble for its stock price The company has recently posted a plethora of job positions for its artificial intelligence and robotics sector, which is an area it made cuts to earlier this year. According to a recent Bloomberg analysis, Tesla posted at least 25 new jobs related to self-driving development, and 30 new jobs that are focused on developing the company's Tesla Bot, or Optimus, which is a humanoid robot. In addition, Tesla is also ramping up hiring in its energy, service and sales sectors. When Musk announced Tesla's layoffs in April, he blamed the job cuts on "rapid growth," according to an email sent to employees. "Over the years, we have grown rapidly with multiple factories scaling around the globe," wrote Musk in the email. "With this rapid growth there has been duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas." Tesla had a big decline in vehicle sales The move came after the company revealed that during the first-quarter of 2024, it faced a 8.5% decline in vehicle sales compared to the same time period last year. A few weeks after announcing the layoffs, Musk fired Tesla's 500-member Supercharger team and cut the company's summer internship program, which made many students very unhappy. It later appeared that the CEO began having second thoughts as he reportedly rehired most members of the Supercharger team in May, and positions for Tesla's fall internship program began appearing on the company's career page. Tesla's recent boost in hiring in its AI and robotics sector comes at a time when it reportedly delayed the unveiling of its self-driving robotaxi vehicle from August to October. More Tesla: Musk also said during a recent earnings call that Tesla should be thought of as an "AI or robotics company" and not just one that develops electric vehicles. Tesla is expected to unveil its second-quarter earnings for 2024 on July 23. Ahead of the report's release, the company revealed that it delivered 443,956 vehicles during the second quarter, which is a 4.8% decrease from what it delivered during the same quarter in 2023. Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024

Tesla is on a hiring spree after Musk-ordered mass firings

Tesla Inc. is looking to hire nearly 800 new employees, three months after Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk hastily ordered the largest round of layoffs in the company's history. The roles have steadily popped up on Tesla's careers page in recent weeks, with positions spanning artificial intelligence specialists to more run-of-the-mill service jobs, according to a Bloomberg analysis. The pickup in postings has coincided with Tesla shares going on a tear, adding more than $223 billion in market capitalization in just the last 14 trading days. The stock marched higher in all but one of those sessions, when Bloomberg reported Tesla had decided to postpone the unveiling of robotaxi prototypes. Musk confirmed Monday that he'd asked for design changes and that teams working on the vehicle were granted extra time. While 800 jobs are a far cry from the thousands of positions that Tesla eliminated this year, and publicly listed roles may not give a full picture of the company's hiring, the new postings provide a glimpse into some of Musk's priorities for the Austin-based company. There were only three jobs posted on Tesla's website in May, after the company missed vehicles sales expectations by the widest margin ever. The 20% sequential drop in quarterly deliveries spurred Musk to push for a commensurate reduction in headcount, Bloomberg reported, which would have meant dismissing roughly 28,000 of the more than 140,000 employees Tesla started the year with. Now, many of the openings the company is looking to fill focus on AI and robotics for products including Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot. There are at least 25 jobs related to self-driving development or Autopilot, and at least 30 focused on Optimus. Tesla is reinforcing its years-long pursuit of autonomy as it prepares to unveil the robotaxi prototypes in October. The hiring spree likely will add personnel back to areas where Tesla cut too deeply, in addition to reflecting Musk's vision for the company. He's said he now views Tesla as more of an AI, robotics and sustainable energy company than an EV company. Tesla doesn't yet have regulatory approval to put driverless cars on the road, and its vehicles still aren't capable of safely maneuvering without constant human supervision. However, many investors believe it will eventually bring the technology to market and have bid the stock up alongside Musk's increasingly bullish claims. The company's long-term value will be derived from autonomous taxis and self-driving software, even if those products are years away, said Tom Narayan, an RBC Capital Markets analyst with the equivalent of a buy rating on Tesla shares. Autonomy is "going to disrupt the industry, and that's enough," he said. In hiring related to Tesla's AI and robotics ambitions, the company will have plenty of competition for the best candidates - including from other companies within Musk's empire. The CEO acknowledged in April that the carmaker was having to boost pay to retain people interested in jumping to his latest startup, xAI, or defecting for OpenAI, which he co-founded but is now taking on after a falling-out years ago. In mid-May, Tesla began to show the first hints of its workforce priorities when it quietly posted 17 roles for its Palo Alto, California, office related to AI and robotics. That number steadily climbed to about 130 positions on July 10. The San Francisco-area site is a relatively new location for Tesla, and opened as an engineering headquarters last year. "Musk has been clear with the vision of where they're going and how important that aspect of the business has been," said Ben Kallo, a Baird analyst who recommends buying Tesla shares. Energy, service and sales Outside of AI, Narayan and Kallo pointed to Tesla's rapidly expanding energy-storage business as a key long-term growth area. When announcing its latest quarterly vehicle deliveries this month, the company said it already deployed nearly as many megawatt hours' worth of energy-storage products in the first half of this year as it did in all of 2023. Tesla's careers page lists several dozen energy-related positions in cities including Palo Alto and in Lathrop, California, where the company builds out Megapacks, its large-scale batteries. The roles range from engineering positions to jobs related to installing Megapacks and solar products. The company's customer-facing departments also are looking to replenish their staff. On July 15, Tesla had 268 service-related roles listed, including 77 service technicians, far exceeding any other position or department. Many of these service positions will likely operate out of Tesla showrooms. The company has also posted more than 60 sales and customer-support positions. Mat Fisher, a former territory operations leader for Tesla who led sales and service teams, said he'd been surprised to see a large number of service employees laid off before summer. That's typically a busy season for service centers, as cars and their air conditioners are used more, leading to more maintenance needs. Tesla made significant cuts to its sales staff earlier this year, at a time it was already struggling with slipping demand. Musk has said he wants the company's vehicles to mostly be purchased online and ordered as easily as snapping up items off Amazon. However, many customers new to EVs still have questions about battery range, charging and software features. Recharging The company has hired back some of its once nearly 500-person Supercharger organization, which had been building out Tesla's network of public charging stations. Musk gutted almost the entire department earlier this year. While only a handful of charging-related positions have appeared on Tesla's website for the company's facility in Buffalo, New York, a number of former employees have been hired back or announced their return on LinkedIn. Musk has said the company will still invest over $500 million in the charging business this year. Job postings in June and July show the company is looking to add employees in a number of its locations, including Palo Alto, Fremont and Lathrop, California; Austin and Robstown, Texas; Sparks, Nevada; and Buffalo. Besides the AI and energy roles, there are also positions available in construction and facilities, manufacturing, engineering and supply chain. (With assistance from Bill Haubert.)

Tesla is on a hiring spree after Musk-ordered mass firings

Tesla Inc. is looking to hire nearly 800 new employees, three months after Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk hastily ordered the largest round of layoffs in the company's history. The roles have steadily popped up on Tesla's careers page in recent weeks, with positions spanning artificial intelligence specialists to more run-of-the-mill service jobs, according to a Bloomberg analysis. The pickup in postings has coincided with Tesla shares going on a tear, adding more than $223 billion in market capitalization in just the last 14 trading days. The stock marched higher in all but one of those sessions, when Bloomberg reported Tesla had decided to postpone the unveiling of robotaxi prototypes. Musk confirmed Monday that he'd asked for design changes and that teams working on the vehicle were granted extra time. While 800 jobs are a far cry from the thousands of positions that Tesla eliminated this year, and publicly listed roles may not give a full picture of the company's hiring, the new postings provide a glimpse into some of Musk's priorities for the Austin-based company. There were only three jobs posted on Tesla's website in May, after the company missed vehicles sales expectations by the widest margin ever. The 20% sequential drop in quarterly deliveries spurred Musk to push for a commensurate reduction in headcount, Bloomberg reported, which would have meant dismissing roughly 28,000 of the more than 140,000 employees Tesla started the year with. Now, many of the openings the company is looking to fill focus on AI and robotics for products including Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot. There are at least 25 jobs related to self-driving development or Autopilot, and at least 30 focused on Optimus. Tesla is reinforcing its years-long pursuit of autonomy as it prepares to unveil the robotaxi prototypes in October. The hiring spree likely will add personnel back to areas where Tesla cut too deeply, in addition to reflecting Musk's vision for the company. He's said he now views Tesla as more of an AI, robotics and sustainable energy company than an EV company. Tesla doesn't yet have regulatory approval to put driverless cars on the road, and its vehicles still aren't capable of safely maneuvering without constant human supervision. However, many investors believe it will eventually bring the technology to market and have bid the stock up alongside Musk's increasingly bullish claims. The company's long-term value will be derived from autonomous taxis and self-driving software, even if those products are years away, said Tom Narayan, an RBC Capital Markets analyst with the equivalent of a buy rating on Tesla shares. Autonomy is "going to disrupt the industry, and that's enough," he said. In hiring related to Tesla's AI and robotics ambitions, the company will have plenty of competition for the best candidates -- including from other companies within Musk's empire. The CEO acknowledged in April that the carmaker was having to boost pay to retain people interested in jumping to his latest startup, xAI, or defecting for OpenAI, which he co-founded but is now taking on after a falling-out years ago. In mid-May, Tesla began to show the first hints of its workforce priorities when it quietly posted 17 roles for its Palo Alto, California, office related to AI and robotics. That number steadily climbed to about 130 positions on July 10. The San Francisco-area site is a relatively new location for Tesla, and opened as an engineering headquarters last year. "Musk has been clear with the vision of where they're going and how important that aspect of the business has been," said Ben Kallo, a Baird analyst who recommends buying Tesla shares. Energy, service and sales Outside of AI, Narayan and Kallo pointed to Tesla's rapidly expanding energy-storage business as a key long-term growth area. When announcing its latest quarterly vehicle deliveries this month, the company said it already deployed nearly as many megawatt hours' worth of energy-storage products in the first half of this year as it did in all of 2023. Tesla's careers page lists several dozen energy-related positions in cities including Palo Alto and in Lathrop, California, where the company builds out Megapacks, its large-scale batteries. The roles range from engineering positions to jobs related to installing Megapacks and solar products. The company's customer-facing departments also are looking to replenish their staff. On July 15, Tesla had 268 service-related roles listed, including 77 service technicians, far exceeding any other position or department. Many of these service positions will likely operate out of Tesla showrooms. The company has also posted more than 60 sales and customer-support positions. Mat Fisher, a former territory operations leader for Tesla who led sales and service teams, said he'd been surprised to see a large number of service employees laid off before summer. That's typically a busy season for service centers, as cars and their air conditioners are used more, leading to more maintenance needs. Tesla made significant cuts to its sales staff earlier this year, at a time it was already struggling with slipping demand. Musk has said he wants the company's vehicles to mostly be purchased online and ordered as easily as snapping up items off Amazon. However, many customers new to EVs still have questions about battery range, charging and software features. Recharging The company has hired back some of its once nearly 500-person Supercharger organization, which had been building out Tesla's network of public charging stations. Musk gutted almost the entire department earlier this year. While only a handful of charging-related positions have appeared on Tesla's website for the company's facility in Buffalo, New York, a number of former employees have been hired back or announced their return on LinkedIn. Musk has said the company will still invest over $500 million in the charging business this year. Job postings in June and July show the company is looking to add employees in a number of its locations, including Palo Alto, Fremont and Lathrop, California; Austin and Robstown, Texas; Sparks, Nevada; and Buffalo. Besides the AI and energy roles, there are also positions available in construction and facilities, manufacturing, engineering and supply chain.

Tesla is on a hiring spree after Musk-ordered mass firings

Tesla is looking to hire nearly 800 new employees, three months after Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk hastily ordered the largest round of layoffs in the company's history. The roles have steadily popped up on Tesla's careers page in recent weeks, with positions spanning artificial intelligence specialists to more run-of-the-mill service jobs, according to a Bloomberg analysis. The pickup in postings has coincided with Tesla shares going on a tear, adding more than $223 billion in market capitalization in just the last 14 trading days. The stock marched higher in all but one of those sessions, when Bloomberg reported Tesla had decided to postpone the unveiling of robotaxi prototypes. Musk confirmed Monday that he'd asked for design changes and that teams working on the vehicle were granted extra time. While 800 jobs are a far cry from the thousands of positions that Tesla eliminated this year, and publicly listed roles may not give a full picture of the company's hiring, the new postings provide a glimpse into some of Musk's priorities for the Austin-based company. There were only three jobs posted on Tesla's website in May, after the company missed vehicles sales expectations by the widest margin ever. The 20% sequential drop in quarterly deliveries spurred Musk to push for a commensurate reduction in headcount, Bloomberg reported, which would have meant dismissing roughly 28,000 of the more than 140,000 employees Tesla started the year with. Now, many of the openings the company is looking to fill focus on AI and robotics for products including Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot. There are at least 25 jobs related to self-driving development or Autopilot, and at least 30 focused on Optimus. Tesla is reinforcing its years-long pursuit of autonomy as it prepares to unveil the robotaxi prototypes in October. The hiring spree likely will add personnel back to areas where Tesla cut too deeply, in addition to reflecting Musk's vision for the company. He's said he now views Tesla as more of an AI, robotics and sustainable energy company than an EV company. Tesla doesn't yet have regulatory approval to put driverless cars on the road, and its vehicles still aren't capable of safely maneuvering without constant human supervision. However, many investors believe it will eventually bring the technology to market and have bid the stock up alongside Musk's increasingly bullish claims. The company's long-term value will be derived from autonomous taxis and self-driving software, even if those products are years away, said Tom Narayan, an RBC Capital Markets analyst with the equivalent of a buy rating on Tesla shares. Autonomy is "going to disrupt the industry, and that's enough," he said. In hiring related to Tesla's AI and robotics ambitions, the company will have plenty of competition for the best candidates -- including from other companies within Musk's empire. The CEO acknowledged in April that the carmaker was having to boost pay to retain people interested in jumping to his latest startup, xAI, or defecting for OpenAI, which he co-founded but is now taking on after a falling-out years ago. In mid-May, Tesla began to show the first hints of its workforce priorities when it quietly posted 17 roles for its Palo Alto, California, office related to AI and robotics. That number steadily climbed to about 130 positions on July 10. The San Francisco-area site is a relatively new location for Tesla, and opened as an engineering headquarters last year. "Musk has been clear with the vision of where they're going and how important that aspect of the business has been," said Ben Kallo, a Baird analyst who recommends buying Tesla shares. Energy, service and sales Outside of AI, Narayan and Kallo pointed to Tesla's rapidly expanding energy-storage business as a key long-term growth area. When announcing its latest quarterly vehicle deliveries this month, the company said it already deployed nearly as many megawatt hours' worth of energy-storage products in the first half of this year as it did in all of 2023. Tesla's careers page lists several dozen energy-related positions in cities including Palo Alto and in Lathrop, California, where the company builds out Megapacks, its large-scale batteries. The roles range from engineering positions to jobs related to installing Megapacks and solar products. The company's customer-facing departments also are looking to replenish their staff. On July 15, Tesla had 268 service-related roles listed, including 77 service technicians, far exceeding any other position or department. Many of these service positions will likely operate out of Tesla showrooms. The company has also posted more than 60 sales and customer-support positions. Mat Fisher, a former territory operations leader for Tesla who led sales and service teams, said he'd been surprised to see a large number of service employees laid off before summer. That's typically a busy season for service centers, as cars and their air conditioners are used more, leading to more maintenance needs. Tesla made significant cuts to its sales staff earlier this year, at a time it was already struggling with slipping demand. Musk has said he wants the company's vehicles to mostly be purchased online and ordered as easily as snapping up items off Amazon. However, many customers new to EVs still have questions about battery range, charging and software features. Recharging The company has hired back some of its once nearly 500-person Supercharger organization, which had been building out Tesla's network of public charging stations. Musk gutted almost the entire department earlier this year. While only a handful of charging-related positions have appeared on Tesla's website for the company's facility in Buffalo, New York, a number of former employees have been hired back or announced their return on LinkedIn. Musk has said the company will still invest over $500 million in the charging business this year. Job postings in June and July show the company is looking to add employees in a number of its locations, including Palo Alto, Fremont and Lathrop, California; Austin and Robstown, Texas; Sparks, Nevada; and Buffalo. Besides the AI and energy roles, there are also positions available in construction and facilities, manufacturing, engineering and supply chain.

Tesla posts 800 job openings after biggest round of layoffs in...

Tesla is reportedly seeking to hire around 800 new employees - just a few months after CEO Elon Musk reportedly slashed thousands of jobs in the company's biggest-ever round of layoffs. Hundreds of new roles have appeared on the Tesla website over the past few weeks, especially AI specialist and service roles, according to a Bloomberg analysis. Musk posted on X that both Tesla and xAI, his latest AI startup company, "are looking to hire networking engineers & technicians." The Austin-based company cut thousands of jobs - more than 10% of its workforce - in April as car sales tumbled. In May, there were only three job postings on the Tesla career site. Following a 20% sequential drop in quarterly car deliveries, Musk pushed to slash headcount by a similar percentage, Bloomberg reported. That would have meant firing roughly 28,000 of the more than 140,000 employees Tesla started the year with, according to the outlet. Now, Musk is looking to hire again - with an emphasis on AI and robotics, matching his new vision for the company. The job listings will also likely fill in some bald spots where Musk cut too many positions. Tesla has hired back some laid off employees, particularly in its Supercharger organization, which is ramping up Tesla's charging station network. A number of former employees have announced their return to the company on LinkedIn. In April, Musk acknowledged in a post on X that other AI companies have been luring away some Tesla engineers "with massive compensation offers." The new job postings include listings across the country. Roles are not limited to just AI and energy, but also include construction, manufacturing, engineering and supply chain jobs. There are at least 25 job postings related to self-driving Autopilot and at least 30 jobs related to Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot, according to Bloomberg. The open roles also include service technicians, who would likely work from Tesla showrooms, following mass cuts to showroom sales staff earlier this year. Musk wants to foster a robust, online sales model that will allow consumers to buy Tesla vehicles with just a click - but the newness of EVs means many customers still have questions that would benefit from a salesperson. Mat Fisher, a former sales and service teams leader at Tesla, told Bloomberg he was surprised to see so many service employees laid off before the summer - a busy car buying season. Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. The mass layoffs came after the company posted its first year-over-year drop in quarterly car deliveries since 2020. Tesla reported that it delivered 386,810 vehicles globally in the first three months of 2024 - down more than 9% from sales in the first quarter of 2023 and well below Wall Street expectations of 457,000 deliveries. The EV maker's value lies in its potential for autonomous vehicles - though Tesla still does not have a complete self-driving car. Its latest self-driving models still require human supervision in case the need arises to step in and overtake driving controls. Tesla continues to hold its stake as one of the largest EV manufacturers as it faces steep competition. Energy storage is another area of focus for the company, as it deployed nearly as many megawatt hours' worth of energy storage products in the first half of this year as it did in all of 2023, according to Bloomberg. Thus, the Tesla job openings include some energy-related positions. When Bloomberg reported last Thursday that the company would postpone its robotaxi unveiling, shares plummeted nearly 13%. Tesla shares jumped about 6% Monday morning to $264.22 before dipping back down to $254.78 Monday night. Shares dipped further to $250.40 Tuesday morning. Musk - the richest man in the world with a net worth of $252.3 billion according to Forbes - has since confirmed that the reveal was delayed because he had asked for design changes and the teams were granted extra time to work on the vehicles. The robotaxis are now set to be revealed in October.

Elon Musk's Tesla is on a hiring spree after mass firings

Tesla Inc. is looking to hire nearly 800 new employees, three months after Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk hastily ordered the largest round of layoffs in the company's history. The roles have steadily popped up on Tesla's careers page in recent weeks, with positions spanning artificial intelligence specialists to more run-of-the-mill service jobs, according to a Bloomberg analysis. The pickup in postings has coincided with Tesla shares going on a tear, adding more than $223 billion in market capitalization in just the last 14 trading days. The stock marched higher in all but one of those sessions, when Bloomberg reported Tesla had decided to postpone the unveiling of robotaxi prototypes. Musk confirmed Monday that he'd asked for design changes and that teams working on the vehicle were granted extra time. While 800 jobs are a far cry from the thousands of positions that Tesla eliminated this year, and publicly listed roles may not give a full picture of the company's hiring, the new postings provide a glimpse into some of Musk's priorities for the Austin-based company. There were only three jobs posted on the site in May, after the company missed vehicles sales expectations by the widest margin ever. The 20% sequential drop in quarterly deliveries spurred Musk to push for a commensurate reduction in headcount, Bloomberg reported, which would have meant dismissing roughly 28,000 of the more than 140,000 employees Tesla started the year with. Now, many of the openings the company is looking to fill focus on AI and robotics for products including Tesla's humanoid robot, Optimus. There are at least 25 jobs related to self-driving development or Autopilot, and at least 30 focused on Optimus. Tesla is reinforcing its years-long pursuit of autonomy as it prepares to unveil the robotaxi prototypes in October. The hiring spree also appears aimed at adding personnel back to areas where Tesla cut too deeply, in addition to reflecting Musk's vision for the company. He's said he now views Tesla as more of an AI, robotics and sustainable energy company than an EV company. Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment. The carmaker doesn't yet have regulatory approval to put driverless cars on the road, and its vehicles still aren't capable of safely maneuvering without constant human supervision. However, many investors believe Tesla will ultimately bring the technology to market and have bid up its share price alongside Musk's increasingly bullish claims. Tesla's long-term value will be derived from autonomous taxis and self-driving software, even if those products are years away, said Tom Narayan, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets. Autonomy is "going to disrupt the industry, and that's enough," he said. Growth Areas In hiring related to Tesla's AI and robotics ambitions, the company will have plenty of competition for the best candidates -- including from other companies within Musk's empire. The CEO acknowledged in April that the carmaker was having to boost pay to retain people interested in jumping to his latest startup, xAI, or defecting for OpenAI, which he co-founded but is now taking on after a falling-out years ago. Read More: Musk's xAI Hires Away Tesla Engineers in 'War' for Talent In mid-May, Tesla began to show the first hints of its workforce priorities when it quietly posted 17 roles for its Palo Alto, California, office related to AI and robotics. That number steadily climbed to about 130 positions on July 10. The San Francisco-area site is a relatively new location for Tesla, and opened as an engineering headquarters last year. "Musk has been clear with the vision of where they're going and how important that aspect of the business has been," said Ben Kallo, a Baird analyst who has the equivalent of a buy rating on Tesla shares. Outside of AI, Narayan and Kallo pointed to Tesla's rapidly expanding energy-storage business as a key long-term growth area. When announcing its latest quarterly vehicle deliveries this month, the company said it already deployed nearly as many megawatt hours' worth of energy-storage products in the first half of this year as it did in all of 2023. Tesla's careers page lists several dozen energy-related positions in cities including Palo Alto and in Lathrop, California, where the company builds out Megapacks, its large-scale batteries. The roles range from engineering positions to jobs related to installing Megapacks and solar products. Deep Cuts The company's customer-facing departments also are looking to replenish their staff. On July 15, Tesla had 268 service-related roles listed, including 77 service technicians, far exceeding any other position or department. Many of these service positions will likely operate out of Tesla showrooms. The company has also posted more than 60 sales and customer-support positions. Mat Fisher, a former territory operations leader for Tesla who led sales and service teams, said he'd been surprised to see a large number of service employees laid off before summer. That's typically a busy season for service centers, as cars and their air conditioners are used more, leading to more maintenance needs. Tesla also made significant cuts to its sales staff earlier this year, at a time it was already struggling with slipping demand. Musk has said he wants the company's vehicles to mostly be purchased online and ordered as easily as snapping up items off Amazon. However, many customers new to EVs still have questions about battery range, charging and software features. The company has hired back some of its once nearly 500-person Supercharger organization, which had been building out Tesla's network of public charging stations. Musk gutted almost the entire department earlier this year. While only a handful of charging-related positions have appeared on Tesla's website for the company's facility in Buffalo, New York, a number of former employees have been hired back or announced their return on LinkedIn. Musk has said the company will still invest over $500 million in the charging business this year. Job postings in June and July show the company is looking to add employees in a number of its locations, including Palo Alto, Fremont and Lathrop, California; Austin and Robstown, Texas; Sparks, Nevada; and Buffalo. Besides the AI and energy roles, there are also positions available in construction and facilities, manufacturing, engineering and supply chain.

Tesla is looking to fill its ranks after Elon Musk laid off thousands of workers

Tesla is looking to hire more than 800 workers in the U.S. to fill positions in everything from construction and manufacturing to artificial intelligence and robotics, some three months after it initiated a wave of mass layoffs. In April, Tesla began laying off thousands of workers across its worldwide operations, affecting just about every division in the company. At least six executives, including its senior director of human resources and senior vice president of powertrain and energy, left the company as the layoffs kicked off. About 14% of the company, or around 19,600 workers, were laid off, according to CNBC. Tesla also issued what appeared to be a hiring freeze, taking down thousands of job postings at least twice since layoffs began. "With [Tesla's] rapid growth there has been duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas," CEO Elon Musk wrote to employees as he informed them of job cuts. Now, the company appears ready to put new blood to work. The new positions have slowly appeared on Tesla's careers webpage over the last few weeks, according to Bloomberg News, which first reported the openings. At least 64 positions are listed as working in AI and robotics projects, including Tesla's Optimus robots and Dojo supercomputer. Musk has said Tesla will spend "well over $1 billion" on Dojo, which the company plans to use to process the massive amount of data its electric vehicles collect. Musk recently promoted the potential value Tesla's Optimus robots may have on the stock, describing a hypothetical that could see the product add $20 trillion to the company's market capitalization. The robots aren't expected to go on sale until the end of 2025 and are expected to eventually sell for between $20,000 and $30,000. The CEO in June predicted that Tesla will have more than 1,000 robots working at Tesla in 2025. At least 25 jobs listed on Tesla's careers page are related to Autopilot or self-driving technology development. An autonomous fleet of Tesla "robotaxis" are expected to be a major moneymaker for Tesla in the future. Musk has described launching a network that's a "combination of Airbnb and Uber," since owners can opt their cars into the service at their leisure. However, Tesla has delayed its planned unveiling of the technology by two months and now plans to hold its product demonstration in October. Musk on Monday said he requested an "important design change to the front" and that the extra time allows Tesla to show off "a few other things." The plans play into Musk's long-held belief that Tesla will achieve full self-driving autonomy, something he's promised repeatedly over the years -- and failed to accomplish. In recent months, Musk has taken to calling Tesla an "AI/robotics and sustainable energy company," not an electric vehicle maker. Tesla's career page also has dozens of energy-related jobs and internships. When it reported second-quarter deliveries earlier this month, Tesla said it hit its highest quarterly deployment of energy storage products, 9.4 gigawatt hours. The energy business, a somewhat overlooked part of the company, may begin to have a more significant influence on earnings -- and the stock. "We believe investors will begin to pay more attention to Tesla Energy which we value at $36 per Tesla share ($130bn) as the business uniquely positioned to benefit from investment in the US electric grid accelerated by the AI boom," Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote earlier this month.

Tesla is looking to hire 800 new employees

The roles have steadily popped up on Tesla's careers page in recent weeks, with positions spanning artificial intelligence specialists to more run-of-the-mill service jobs, according to a Bloomberg analysis. The pickup in postings has coincided with Tesla shares going on a tear, adding more than $223 billion in market capitalization in just the last 14 trading days. The stock marched higher in all but one of those sessions, when Bloomberg reported Tesla had decided to postpone the unveiling of robotaxi prototypes. Musk confirmed Monday that he'd asked for design changes and that teams working on the vehicle were granted extra time. While 800 jobs are a far cry from the thousands of positions that Tesla eliminated this year, and publicly listed roles may not give a full picture of the company's hiring, the new postings provide a glimpse into some of Musk's priorities for the Austin-based company. There were only three jobs posted on the site in May, after the company missed vehicles sales expectations by the widest margin ever. The 20% sequential drop in quarterly deliveries spurred Musk to push for a commensurate reduction in headcount, Bloomberg reported, which would have meant dismissing roughly 28,000 of the more than 140,000 employees Tesla started the year with. Now, many of the openings the company is looking to fill focus on AI and robotics for products including Tesla's humanoid robot, Optimus. There are at least 25 jobs related to self-driving development or Autopilot, and at least 30 focused on Optimus. Tesla is reinforcing its years-long pursuit of autonomy as it prepares to unveil the robotaxi prototypes in October. The hiring spree also appears aimed at adding personnel back to areas where Tesla cut too deeply, in addition to reflecting Musk's vision for the company. He's said he now views Tesla as more of an AI, robotics and sustainable energy company than an EV company. Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment. The carmaker doesn't yet have regulatory approval to put driverless cars on the road, and its vehicles still aren't capable of safely maneuvering without constant human supervision. However, many investors believe Tesla will ultimately bring the technology to market and have bid up its share price alongside Musk's increasingly bullish claims. Tesla's long-term value will be derived from autonomous taxis and self-driving software, even if those products are years away, said Tom Narayan, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets. Autonomy is "going to disrupt the industry, and that's enough," he said. In hiring related to Tesla's AI and robotics ambitions, the company will have plenty of competition for the best candidates -- including from other companies within Musk's empire. The CEO acknowledged in April that the carmaker was having to boost pay to retain people interested in jumping to his latest startup, xAI, or defecting for OpenAI, which he co-founded but is now taking on after a falling-out years ago. In mid-May, Tesla began to show the first hints of its workforce priorities when it quietly posted 17 roles for its Palo Alto, California, office related to AI and robotics. That number steadily climbed to about 130 positions on July 10. The San Francisco-area site is a relatively new location for Tesla, and opened as an engineering headquarters last year. "Musk has been clear with the vision of where they're going and how important that aspect of the business has been," said Ben Kallo, a Baird analyst who has the equivalent of a buy rating on Tesla shares. Outside of AI, Narayan and Kallo pointed to Tesla's rapidly expanding energy-storage business as a key long-term growth area. When announcing its latest quarterly vehicle deliveries this month, the company said it already deployed nearly as many megawatt hours' worth of energy-storage products in the first half of this year as it did in all of 2023. Tesla's careers page lists several dozen energy-related positions in cities including Palo Alto and in Lathrop, California, where the company builds out Megapacks, its large-scale batteries. The roles range from engineering positions to jobs related to installing Megapacks and solar products. The company's customer-facing departments also are looking to replenish their staff. On July 15, Tesla had 268 service-related roles listed, including 77 service technicians, far exceeding any other position or department. Many of these service positions will likely operate out of Tesla showrooms. The company has also posted more than 60 sales and customer-support positions. Mat Fisher, a former territory operations leader for Tesla who led sales and service teams, said he'd been surprised to see a large number of service employees laid off before summer. That's typically a busy season for service centers, as cars and their air conditioners are used more, leading to more maintenance needs. Tesla made significant cuts to its sales staff earlier this year, at a time it was already struggling with slipping demand. Musk has said he wants the company's vehicles to mostly be purchased online and ordered as easily as snapping up items off Amazon. However, many customers new to EVs still have questions about battery range, charging and software features. The company has hired back some of its once nearly 500-person Supercharger organization, which had been building out Tesla's network of public charging stations. Musk gutted almost the entire department earlier this year. While only a handful of charging-related positions have appeared on Tesla's website for the company's facility in Buffalo, New York, a number of former employees have been hired back or announced their return on LinkedIn. Musk has said the company will still invest over $500 million in the charging business this year. Job postings in June and July show the company is looking to add employees in a number of its locations, including Palo Alto, Fremont and Lathrop, California; Austin and Robstown, Texas; Sparks, Nevada; and Buffalo. Besides the AI and energy roles, there are also positions available in construction and facilities, manufacturing, engineering and supply chain.

Tesla Has Nearly 800 New Jobs Open, Up From the 3 Jobs It Was Hiring For in May

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. Related: This Former Tesla Employee Started a Side Hustle to Save Gen Z Time -- Now It's Raised Over $40 Million From the CEOs of Salesforce, Uber and More 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. 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

What's Going On With Tesla Stock On Tuesday? - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Tesla plans to hire 800 new employees.New roles focus on AI, robotics, and energy storage. Tesla Inc TSLA is looking to hire nearly 800 new employees, just three months after CEO Elon Musk ordered the most significant round of layoffs in the company's history. The stock is trading higher premarket Tuesday. The job openings have steadily appeared on Tesla's careers page, with positions ranging from artificial intelligence specialists to service jobs, Bloomberg reports. Many new positions are related to Tesla's AI and robotics initiatives, including developing the Optimus humanoid robot and self-driving technology. Also Read: Tesla Deliveries Fall For Second Straight Quarter, But Stock Takes Off As Q2 Numbers Exceed Expectations (CORRECTED) Currently, at least 25 job listings are related to self-driving development or Autopilot, and 30 are focused on Optimus. The company is also looking to replenish its customer-facing departments, according to Bloomberg. Tesla's rapidly expanding energy storage business is another critical area for growth. The company has posted several dozen energy-related positions in Palo Alto and Lathrop, California, particularly for its Megapacks and solar products. These roles span from engineering positions to installation jobs. Investors can gain exposure to Tesla through iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF IVW and ARK Innovation ETF ARKK. Price Action: TSLA shares traded higher by 1.16% at $255.56 premarket at the last check on Tuesday. Also Read: China's Slow Economic Growth Hits EV Stocks: Canoo, Lucid, Polestar Drop Image Via Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs