Tesla ($TSLA) needs to make more Model 3s before it's too late. According to a leaked email obtained by Electrek, Tesla is scrambling to increase Model 3 production to 500 units per day at its Fremont factory. It's supposedly doing so by hiring more people.
“It is looking quite likely that we will exceed 500 vehicles per day across all Model 3 production zones this week," Elon Musk said in the leaked email. That's 3,500 cars per week - more than the company has ever produced.
But you wouldn't know that on first glance at hiring data for Tesla. After all, how is a company that is under the gun to increase production of a product going to do so while putting the brakes on hiring?
That's a 10% drop in openins in just the past 24 hours (from 3,100 openings to 2,922) — not what one would expect from a company that says it's shoring up production talent.
But on closer look, we discovered that openings in Fremont and the Gigafactory - where the company makes the Model 3 and its batteries - are holding steady.
Indeed, job openings in Fremont continue to be flat or up at Tesla after a hiring spree that we reported about earlier this month.
The Fremont facility isn't the only element to Model 3 production, however. The car's batteries are produces at the Sparks Gigafactory. Like Fremont, job openings at the Gigafactory have remained steady during this week's overall hiring slowdown.
In May, Musk projected that Tesla would soon be producing 5,000 vehicles per week. If the steady hires at Fremont and Gigafactory - along with the leaked email that promises 3,500 Model 3s a week - are any sign, it's clear that Tesla is razor-focused on ultimately meeting production goals.
A reduction in hires overall at the company along with uptick in hiring where it needs it most shows that the company intends to keep its promises, even if it means reducing hiring budget elsewhere.
