Tesla loses its VP of HR and diversity

Tesla has lost another top executive today as Felicia May, Vice President of HR and Diversity & Inclusion at Tesla, left the automaker.

May has been part of Tesla’s top HR executive team for the better part of the last two years.

She was working for more diversity in Tesla’s staff. She said in an interview earlier this year:

“I wish I could take credit for us bucking the trend. My team was very instrumental in executing on our developed strategy to ensure that Tesla integrates diversity into the business at all levels. Any decision made was based on the business at hand and the experience that was required to further drive innovation. The representation of females on the board and leadership shows our focus and commitment to integrating diversity into the business overall.”

Today, CNBC reported that May left Tesla.

A Tesla spokesperson commented:

“We’ll miss Felicia and would like to thank her for her hard work over the last two years and wish her all the best in the future. We have a talented HR team in place that will continue to report into our VP of People & Places and will remain focused on advancing our mission and making Tesla a great place to work.”

The VP of People and Places is Kevin Kassekert, who was promoted by Elon Musk last year.

In the middle of some instability earlier this year, Tesla lost a bunch of more executives.

Electrek’s Take

The first half of the year has been hard for Tesla when it comes to executive departures.

Tesla naysayers will try to frame this as “rats escaping a sinking ship”, but it could also simply be due to the competitive nature of the job market in the Bay Area.

May has an impressive resumé and she was probably in high demand and managed to secure another gig.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.