Tesla just released its recent 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It revealed plenty of information that we'll be covering over time, though one of the highlights was the electric automaker's 2021 employee growth to 99,290, which is a 40 percent increase in just a single year.
At the end of 2020, Tesla reported that it had over 70,000 full-time employees across all of its global operations. As of December 31, 2021, it had over 99,000 full-time employees. While we don't know how many part-time employees Tesla has, the total number may surpass 100,000 if every employee was counted.
Not only did Tesla increase its employee count significantly in 2021, but it also posted record production and deliveries every quarter. In addition, the EV maker showed a profit every quarter as well. Keep in mind, this was all while still only producing vehicles at two factories, in addition to working on building two additional factories, one in Texas and the other in Germany.
Tesla also made a reference in the filing, which appears to be related to its non-union situation. It wrote in the filing, via our friends at Teslarati:
“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."
Tesla still has a long way to go to build its employee base up to that of legacy automakers. According to Teslarati, the top two as far as employees are concerned are Volkswagen and Toyota, at ~665,000 and ~370,000, respectively. Meanwhile, the Teslarati article puts Ford's headcount at around 180,000.
Source: Teslarati