Tesla, the maker of electric cars and energy storage devices, had 1,656 job postings on Monday afternoon. Tesla, which has incurred losses worth $1.88 billion since 2007, is working on adding personnel as it moves ahead on its growth path by engaging in activities such as offering more models, building the biggest battery factory in the world and expanding globally.
More employees needed to grow
Rapid hiring is a typical characteristic of fast-growing companies, and Tesla is surely growing. Tesla’s headcount has gone up by 15 times since 2010 and is more than 14,000 at present. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company used to sell just one car five years ago — a limited edition Roadster — and that too only in the U.S. Now the company sells two electric car models on three continents and also has a business unit called Tesla Energy that manufactures stationary battery systems for home, business and utility use.
The vacancies posted were for a radar engineer with a work experience of three years with automotive radar systems; for a manager, who will be entrusted with the responsibility of establishing a service operation in Mexico City, and for product specialists in several cities from Amsterdam and Milan to Shanghai and Chengdu. Tesla has not been secretive in its hiring.
In a tweet last month, CEO Elon Musk said, “We are looking for hardcore software engineers. No prior experience with cars required. Should mention that I will be interviewing people personally and Autopilot reports directly to me. This is a super high priority.”
Tesla will have to balance profits and growth
Musk is making sincere efforts to turn the company’s cash flow positive by the first quarter of next year, but it is going to be tough for the U.S. automaker to grow without negatively impacting Musk’s efforts. Ben Kallo, an analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co., notes that for keeping all the tasks ahead in both the businesses — car making and batteries — it is necessary to expand the workforce across all divisions.
“During 2016 Tesla will face a balancing act of funding its rapid growth aspirations and showing the market its ability to deliver profits,” Kallo said.
On Monday, Tesla shares closed up 0.33% at $231.13. Year to date, the stock is up by almost 4%, while in the last one month, it is down by almost 1%.
