Tesla intended to recruit people on June 16, 23, and 30 for R&D and supply chain positions. The manufacturer claimed it was “overstaffed” and cancelled all three events.
Whether Tesla conducted the June 9 “smart manufacturing” drive is still unclear as there were no notifications for it on the website.
However, the company still welcomes resumes for over 1000 roles posted on WeChat. Some openings include aerodynamic engineers, supply chain managers, factory supervisors, and workers. Tesla China posted the job openings on the Chinese social messaging app WeChat.
It is worrisome because Musk had warned his US employees about job cuts last week, and the production disruptions in Shanghai plants due to lockdowns were especially alarming. China’s zero-COVID policy essentially created a start-stop economy, where entire cities were cordoned and locked down if there were reports of a handful of cases. The draconian policy had shrunk the automaker’s output capacity.
The CEO clarified that Tesla China is not freezing hiring and that its “hourly headcount will increase.”
Shanghai is slowly reopening, and Tesla Motors is patiently waiting as China produced more than half of its global output and contributed to a quarter of its GDP in 2021.
The wealthiest man in the world had worried investors last month by opining that the US was already under recession and later allegedly told his employees that he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy.