Tesla seems to be quietly rebooting its press workforce, as a brand new media job itemizing can now be seen on the corporate’s web site.
After Tesla made headlines for dissolving its public relations and media workforce simply over 4 years in the past, the corporate now appears to be restarting its media relations efforts with a Car Communications Supervisor place listed on its careers web page. The job is situated on the firm’s manufacturing unit website in Fremont, California, and its tasks embrace overseeing public-facing media initiatives in accordance with Tesla’s merchandise.
Tesla writes as follows within the job description:
Because the Car Communications Supervisor, you may be answerable for managing all exterior information communication referring to automobile packages and coordinating efforts with exterior media. This contains intently collaborating with technical employees on automobile metrics, managing exterior automobile information to realize consistency and accuracy, approving web site content material and enabling exterior media entry to evaluate product.
Your work will embrace advising on new product goal setting and assessing program developments as an early customer-ambassador. You’ll work intently with a large spectrum of technical and enterprise groups along with Car Program Managers, Car Technical Leaders and firm executives to align on public dealing with information and assist the world recognize the affect of Tesla merchandise.
You possibly can see the total Car Communications Supervisor job itemizing right here on Tesla’s web site.
Over the previous few years, Tesla hasn’t had any sort of conventional public relations workforce, so the itemizing is actually a shift from the social-media-only ethos held since late 2020. The dissolving of the PR division was anticipated to get replaced with social media, and Elon Musk since bought Twitter and turned it into X, whereas many Tesla executives have additionally began to be extra vocal on the platform.
It’s additionally not clear but whether or not Tesla will rent extra workers to work beneath a bigger umbrella of a press division, or if the corporate will maintain issues lean with simply the Car Communications Supervisor. In any case, many buyers, journalists, and common fans within the Tesla neighborhood have referred to as for Tesla to reboot PR initiatives, so it seems the corporate could also be responding to those requests or just making ready for its subsequent stage of progress with such a workforce.
Following the choice in late 2020, Elon Musk doubled down on his reasoning for the transfer, emphasizing citizen journalism and Tesla’s deal with the product as key causes for eliminating its PR workforce. Since then, Musk has frequently defended a mannequin during which executives and workers straight reply to inquiries on X, as an alternative of a extra conventional mannequin using a press division.
Different firms spend cash on promoting & manipulating public opinion, Tesla focuses on the product.
I belief the individuals.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 27, 2021
In April, Tesla additionally launched widespread layoffs that included its promoting workforce, simply six months or so after the corporate had begun leaning again into advert efforts following an analogous pivot away to that with its media workforce. Musk talked about launching “small-scale” promoting efforts final 12 months, and it has appeared to proceed with that technique even following the layoffs earlier this 12 months.
What are your ideas? Let me know at [email protected], discover me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or ship us ideas at [email protected].
Tesla executives are being extra vocal on X and in media appearances
