Tesla is in the process of hiring 10,000 employees at its Texas-based Gigafactory to strengthen manufacturing efforts for such models as Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck, and Semi.
The company currently has three projects underway: Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, Gigafactory Shanghai, and, most importantly, Gigafactory Texas.
Gigafactory Texas will be the most important manufacturing facility for Tesla, at least for the next five years, because Tesla will kick off mass production for both batteries and many highly anticipated vehicles.
Tesla recently kicked off phase one of its hiring spree, during which it opened 50 positions. The company previously planned to hire 5,000 employees at its Texas facility, but after Musk became involved in the hiring effort, that number has since been bumped up to 10,000 through the end of 2022.
The increased headcount makes sense, since Musk may end up assigning lofty targets for the Texas facility, as he is wont to do. At the very least, overshooting the hiring target is superior to being short-staffed for the production quota.
Tesla had 70,000 employees on its payroll as of 2020. Given the company’s various ongoing large-scale projects, it would come as no surprise should Tesla end up with more than 100,000 hires by the end of next year.
One would be hard-pressed to talk about Austin, Texas, without mentioning its reputation in the education sector. That is why Chris Reilly, Director, Recruiting & Workforce Development at Tesla, indicates that the company is in discussion with local schools to create a program that allows high school graduates to work in Gigafactory Texas while continuing their education.
Although a bachelor’s degree is not a prerequisite for all jobs at Tesla, the partnership between Tesla and Austin-based colleges/universities is meant for students to work while studying in order to not only earn an income from the most valuable automaker in the world, but also obtain a bachelor’s degree, which opens the door to better jobs.
For many high school graduates, the aforementioned partnership is undoubtedly good news, as many jobs with low barrier to entry have become unavailable in the wake of the pandemic, while Tesla’s arrival in turn represents the arrival of various entry-level positions.
(Image: Tesla)
