Tesla Actively Recruiting Military Veterans

Tesla’s current employment of over 300 veterans is just the beginning, according to recent reports.

The acclaimed EV-manufacturer is apparently due to become “a leading employer of veterans”, according to the San Jose Mercury News — with over 600 veterans currently in the hiring pipeline.

While providing good work for unemployed veterans is certainly something that can be commended, it isn’t exactly charity as many veterans have exactly the sort of technical skills that are useful in the industry. And, or course, most have a good deal of experience working as a member of a team — something that Tesla reportedly places high value on.

Green Car Reports provides more:

Veterans are viewed as an especially good fit for building electric cars, because many of them acquired relevant technical skills during their service. With that in mind, Tesla is making a concerted effort to hire veterans — and to make them feel comfortable in their new positions.

A former Army intelligence analyst in its human resources department focuses on recruiting veterans. Candidates are reached through word of mouth, partnerships with veterans groups, and recruiting events.

Tesla also holds informal monthly gatherings for its military employees, and has made Veterans Day a company-wide paid holiday. Management also makes efforts to accommodate employees still on active duty.

Impressively, when one of Tesla’s engineering technicians, Megan Gates, recently left for a two-year deployment with the National Guard, they held her position. And, apparently, even kept in contact with her throughout that two-year time period.

That sounds like pretty good employer-employee relations for a mid-level position at a modern company to me. 🙂

Given that the company is currently in the process of greatly expanding its manufacturing capacity — with an eye towards China, among other things — the opportunity certainly seems to be there to ramp up its hiring of veterans.