Tesla increased its workforce by over 20,000 employees in 2020

Tesla managed to increase its workforce by over 20,000 employees in 2020 – a year that was mostly difficult for job creation.

Tesla Headcount

With the global pandemic, 2020 was a rough year for job creation, and most markets saw unemployment rates increasing.

Many companies had to slash jobs, but Tesla managed to do very well despite the circumstances.

The automaker managed to grow its sales to almost half a million vehicles in 2020, and the performance is also reflected in its workforce.

In its 10K SEC filing released this week, Tesla confirmed that its headcount has grown to 70,757 full-time employees:

“As of December 31, 2020, our full-time count for our and our subsidiaries’ employees worldwide was 70,757. To date, we have not experienced any work stoppages as a result of labor disputes, and we consider our relationship with our employees to be good. Our key human capital objectives in managing our business include attracting, developing and retaining top talent while integrating diversity, equity and inclusion principles and practices into our core values.”

That’s up from 48,016 full-time employees reported at the end of 2019.

2018 and 2019 were tougher years for Tesla, with several rounds of layoffs. The automaker still ended up growing, but at a much slower rate.

Prior to those years, Tesla was growing at a breakneck pace, going from 15,000 to 30,000 employees between 2015 and 2016.

Tesla’s workforce growth is not slowing down in 2021

Adding over 20,000 employees is something extremely hard to do, but Tesla is likely to beat that in 2021.

Tesla is expanding in some markets, opening new stores and service centers, which should contribute to its workforce growth, but manufacturing will Tesla’s biggest area of growth for the headcount.

Both Gigafactory Berlin and Gigafactory Texas are going to come online later this year, and when Tesla starts hiring production associates, the headcount should grow by thousands.

It’s very likely that Tesla could reach a headcount of 100,000 employees by the end of the year.