Tesla is aggressively hiring in China despite company-wide layoffs announced last month
According to a July 14 post by Tesla China, the shipments of automobiles from Shanghai Gigafactory in the first half of 2022 have roughly accounted for half of all exports of new energy vehicles from China.
According to the most recent data by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first half of 2022, auto companies exported 1.218 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 47.1%. A total of 202,000 new energy vehicles were exported, a year-on-year increase of more than 130%, accounting for 16.6% of total vehicle exports.
In the first half, the Shanghai Gigafactory exported a total of 97,182 vehicles, which is more than twice the 41,770 vehicles exported during the same time in 2021 and represents 48% of China’s total exports of new energy vehicles.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s China career page shows it’s actively hiring, even though Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced last month that it would cut 10% of its workforce across the company.
On the career page, there are more than 700 open jobs in R&D, production, sales, and other areas, state-owned news outlet Shanghai Securities News reported. More than one-third of the job openings are related to manufacturing, and sales and service talents were also what Tesla focused on hiring for.
This shows how crucial the Chinese market is for Tesla, both as a key manufacturing hub and as a huge customer base for its electric vehicles.
Previously, due to the COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, Tesla has to pause its production. However, since the factory was approved to reopen, it has been ramping back up to full capacity.
Tesla said in May that it would transform Shanghai into “the world’s largest vehicle export hub” by building a new factory close to the current one capable of manufacturing 450,000 electric vehicles per year.
According to the Guohai Securities, after extending the Shanghai gigafactory, yearly production capacity will approach 1 million cars, benefiting Tesla’s major suppliers.