By Michael Elkins
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) this week listed over 6,900 jobs on its career website, almost a 50% surge since mid-June. That compares to a 2022 peak of over 7,400 job ads in May, according to data similarly tracked by Thinknum Alternative Data and hedge fund Snow Bull Capital.
Tesla job ads are important because they show where Tesla is trying to grow, said Taylor Ogan, head of Snow Bull Capital. "That's the leading indicator that we have, more than really anything else."
About three-quarters of job ads on Tesla's website are for U.S. positions concentrated in California, Texas and Nevada, followed by Germany, site of a new factory, and Canada. Tesla lists over 200 jobs on another website focused on China, where it recently upgraded its Shanghai plant to boost production.
The steady growth in Tesla's job ads in recent months comes as almost 90% of global CEOs surveyed by KPMG expect a recession over the next 12 months, with nearly half weighing job cuts.
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk warned colleagues in early June he had a "super bad" feeling about the economy and said the electric car maker needed to cut jobs. He later tweeted that total headcount would increase over the next 12 months.
Shares of TSLA are up 3.30% in pre-market trading on Tuesday.