Numerous companies, including e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), are actively seeking to recruit former employees of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) who were recently laid off amid the company's global downsizing efforts.
What Happened: Evan Brannigan, Electric Vehicle Program Manager at Amazon Logistics, extended an invitation to former members of the Tesla Supercharger team. "Former Tesla Supercharger Team, if you have one year or more experience as a program manager or equivalent please look at joining my team," he posted on LinkedIn on Wednesday.
Robin Swartout, VP of Commercialization at Gravity, a Google Ventures-backed EV charging solutions provider, described the layoffs within the supercharger division as "undeniable blow to our industry."
Swartout encouraged former colleagues from the Supercharger Team to connect, affirming their transformative contributions, and expressing confidence in their ability to excel in future endeavors.
Additionally, OWL Services, a fueling solutions provider, and CBRE (NYSE:CBRE), a Texas-based real estate company, have issued calls for former Tesla employees to join their EV infrastructure teams.
CBRE is specifically seeking candidates for various roles such as site developers, transaction managers, project management, and business development. Similarly, OWL Services aims to bolster its EV charging division with new hires.
Fired Staff Move On: One affected individual, Joe Williams, formerly the Southeast Development Lead responsible for expanding Tesla's EV charging infrastructure across eight states, recently announced via LinkedIn that he has joined EnviroSpark Energy Solutions as Senior Vice President of Business Development.
"There are a lot of talented individuals hitting the EV Charging job market at once, so I am hopeful that my unique experience on the Supercharger Team will land me in an exciting position where I can support the rollout of clean energy infrastructure," former Tesla employee Mark Edwards said in a post.
Leo Rojas, another former Tesla charging employee, echoed this sentiment, believing that numerous organizations stand to benefit from the wealth of expertise within the supercharger team.
Why It Matters: Tesla's decision to lay off approximately 500 employees from its Supercharging team as part of its global restructuring efforts has garnered significant attention. The departure of Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla's Senior Director of Charging Infrastructure, has further underscored the significance of these developments. Reuters recently reported details of Tinucci's departure, citing her opposition to additional layoffs within her team after already reducing staff by 15-20%.
Despite these organizational changes, CEO Elon Musk affirmed Tesla's commitment to expanding the Supercharger network, albeit at a reduced pace. Musk announced plans to allocate over $500 million toward the creation of thousands of new charging stations this year.
Photo courtesy of Tesla