With over 6,500 active jobs open for recruitment in September 2021*, Tesla has surpassed pre-COVID-19 hiring activity. However, the California-based electric vehicle (EV) and clean energy company is not closing jobs for recruitment and seemingly staring at a talent crunch, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Tesla defied odds and paced up hires even as hiring in automotive industry remained mostly flat in 2020. Come 2021, the company is increasingly finding hard to hire talent. Active jobs or roles open for recruitment grew from 1,715 in September 2019 to 6,507 in September 2021, an increase of 279%. But job closures for recruitment remained relatively low as Tesla closed 629 jobs in September 2019 when compared to 2,256 in September 2021.

Ajay Thalluri, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, says: “The US and China are the leading regions where Tesla hires significantly but the company’s job closures remain low in the two countries. A possibility is the shortage of talent for the roles the company is looking amid the growing EV makers in the respective regions. In addition, during Q2 2021 earnings call, CEO Elon Musk observed that not many people are involved in manufacturing operations in the US. Furthermore, he referred to China where it takes a while to hire and train older persons to operate a factory.”

Tesla is hiring for a ‘Sr. Recruiter’ to find talent for the new Shanghai Super Factory. An August role for ‘Recruiter’ shows the company is expanding its recruitment team to source high-end and urgent positions. The growing hires is also to keep up competition with the likes of Li Auto that outpaced Tesla in China job listings.

Mr Thalluri adds: “Tesla’s need for talent is such that listings for recruiters and related roles have gone up from 32 in Q2 2021 to 99 in Q3 2021*. Beyond China, the EV maker is ramping up hires globally, more so in Europe.”

Tesla listed contract recruiting roles to hire temporary staff in EMEA for technical and engineering talent. Contingency Recruitment Specialist role shows the company is seeking temporary hires for sales, service, and delivery in EMEA. The company is also hiring for logistics teams in the region and for automotive technicians to provide vehicle service and repairs.

Similar contract roles in the US are to source industrial roles for its Nevada Gigafactory.  A September 2021 listing for ‘Recruiter, Manufacturing Production & Warehousing (Contract)’ role requires the incumbent to support its supply chain warehousing and manufacturing production recruiting team with high volume hourly roles at its factories in Fremont and Lathrop. In September 2021, the company broke ground in Lathrop to build Tesla Megafactory where large-scale battery systems will be created.

Mr Thalluri concludes: “The EV and sustainable energy space is seeing an increasing number of listings related to ESG, climate change, and emissions reduction. Though Tesla has the first mover advantage, increasing competition and the growing need for talent could affect the company’s hiring activity.”

*As on 28 September 2021