Tesla grows headcount to new record despite waves of layoffs

Tesla confirmed that it grew its headcount by 29,000 employees last year despite waves of layoffs in 2022.

2022 has been a tough year for Tesla employees.

They faced waves of layoffs, and the stock price plummeted, which negatively affected their stock options, an important part of their compensation.

Despite the layoffs, Tesla has still grown its employee headcount considerably in 2022.

Today, the company confirmed it with the release of its 10-K SEC filing:

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 confirmed that it has now just short of 128,000 employees, adding 29,000 workers in 2022.

The headcount is starting to approach those of competitors like GM and Ford, which produce a lot more vehicles overall.

However, the comparison is not a great one since on top of having several businesses outside of making cars, Tesla’s automotive business also doesn’t compare well to Ford and GM’s since Tesla owns its entire service and distribution network while other automakers use third-party franchise dealers.

The automaker has a lot of employees working in sales, service, and deliveries that other automakers don’t have.

But a lot of Tesla’s growth in 2022 actually came from its new factories in Berlin and Austin. Tesla is trying to hire as many as 10,000 workers at each of those factories, and the projects weren’t subject to the automaker’s hiring freezes last year.

Unless there’s a significant economic downturn, Tesla’s growth is expected to continue at a high rate as the automaker aims to raise production to 20 million vehicles by the end of the decade, which would require eight additional Gigafactories.