2022 was indeed a challenging year not only for technology firms but also for their employees. In June 2022, CEO Elon Musk sent an internal email to his employees about his plans to lay off 10% or 10,000 Tesla employees in “overstaffed” areas to optimize operations. At the same time, the automaker also intended to hire more hourly employees in production.
That said, the job cuts will not cover employees working in electric vehicles, battery pack production, or solar installation.
Later, Tesla’s boss changed plans to just lay off 3-3.5% of its total headcount than its initial announcement of 10%. However, the EV giant actually employed a lot more workers last year than it terminated.
What’s the big deal?
For context, major tech firms such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Twitter implemented major job cuts to about tens of thousands of employees in 2022 as they anticipate a recession in the US.
Despite that, Tesla managed to increase its workforce with an additional 29,000 new employees last year. That figure represents a year-on-year workforce growth of 28% from 2021’s record of 99,290 employees.
Finally, Tesla reported having 127,855 full-time employees worldwide as of the end of 2022 in a 10-K SEC form that was made public on January 31.
“Our greatest asset is our people and we continue to attract the best and brightest with our competitive pay and benefits package which starts with ownership. We offer employees the opportunity to receive equity during their employment and share in the success of Tesla. As of December 31, 2022, our full-time count for our and our subsidiaries’ employees worldwide was 127,855, a 29,000 year-over-year increase.”
Tesla
Given the tough macroeconomic circumstances prevalent in the market in 2022, the growth in the company’s workforce demonstrates Tesla’s contribution to the world economy.
Tesla’s workforce and business growth align
Tesla reported a total of 70,757 employees in 2020. Remarkably, it increased to 99,290 employees in 2021. It is worth noting that the dramatic growth in employment is an indication of Tesla’s expanding operation in the automotive and energy industries.
As we all know, Tesla’s manufacturing operations are the core of its EV and energy business. Considering the rapidly growing demand for Tesla products, it is not surprising that the automaker’s workforce matches that growth as they play an essential role in the operation.
In retrospect, Tesla reported deliveries of 1.3 million EVs in 2022. For this year, the automaker aims to increase that output to at least 1.8 million units, indicating a massive production ramp-up. That said, Tesla must keep hiring more employees to handle the company’s increase in production.
Furthermore, Tesla aims to increase EV production to 20 million units by the decade’s end. That said, its workforce is anticipated to increase further at a high rate in the coming years.
| Tesla Head-count | Year-end | Change in a year | % Change over previous year |
| 70,757 | 2020 | – | – |
| 99,290 | 2021 | 28,533 | 40.3% |
| 127,855 | 2022 | 28,565 | 28.8% |
