Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Tesla attracts millions of job seekers annually, but only a select few join the EV maker’s ranks, enticed by the potential for stock grants despite comparatively lower base pay.
According to data and interviews reviewed by Business Insider, Tesla’s compensation strategy — detailed in an internal pay database covering roughly 100,000 employees as of December 2021 — shows that while Tesla pays less upfront than other automakers and technology firms, it offers higher stock-based incentives.
In 2023, Tesla received 5.9 million job applications—an average of over 16,100 per day—marking a 64% increase from 2022.
Tesla’s pay model is heavily weighted toward stock grants that vest over time, making the compensation of its workforce more dependent on the company’s performance and share price, according to the data.
In September 2023, Elon Musk commented on an article that analyzed the compensation packages of the CEOs in the automotive industry saying, “Beware any company where leadership compensation is not linked to performance.”
According to the internal database, stock grants at Tesla vary significantly by role, with about 91% of engineering staff receiving median grants of $50,000. By contrast, customer support workers were less likely to receive stock, with just 29% having stock grants averaging $28,000.
For executives, BI reports that stock awards ranged up to $20 million in 2021.
Tesla has recently started rolling out a significant update to its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software on Saturday, shifting the city-streets driving system to a single, end-to-end neural network model in FSD version 12.5.6.3.
Tesla shares soared 8% to $322 on Friday marking their highest level in more than two years and a market cap of above $1 trillion. As of the time of writing, the stock is surging 7.5% higher at $345.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
