Tesla seems to be quietly rebooting its press staff, 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 staff simply over 4 years in the past, the corporate now appears to be restarting its media relations efforts with a Automobile Communications Supervisor place listed on its careers web page. The job is positioned on the firm’s manufacturing facility web site in Fremont, California, and its duties embrace overseeing public-facing media initiatives in accordance with Tesla’s merchandise.
Tesla writes as follows within the job description:
Because the Automobile Communications Supervisor, you may be liable for managing all exterior knowledge communication referring to automobile packages and coordinating efforts with exterior media. This consists of carefully collaborating with technical workers on automobile metrics, managing exterior automobile knowledge to attain 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 carefully with a large spectrum of technical and enterprise groups along with Automobile Program Managers, Automobile Technical Leaders and firm executives to align on public dealing with knowledge and assist the world respect the affect of Tesla merchandise.
You possibly can see the total Automobile Communications Supervisor job itemizing right here on Tesla’s web site.
Over the previous few years, Tesla hasn’t had any form of conventional public relations staff, 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 staff to work below a bigger umbrella of a press division, or if the corporate will maintain issues lean with simply the Automobile Communications Supervisor. In any case, many buyers, journalists, and normal fans within the Tesla group 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 staff.
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 staff. Since then, Musk has recurrently defended a mannequin during which executives and staff immediately reply to inquiries on X, as an alternative of a extra conventional mannequin using a press division.
Different corporations spend cash on promoting & manipulating public opinion, Tesla focuses on the product.
I belief the folks.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 27, 2021
In April, Tesla additionally launched widespread layoffs that included its promoting staff, simply six months or so after the corporate had begun leaning again into advert efforts following the same pivot away to that with its media staff. Musk talked about launching “small-scale” promoting efforts final yr, and it has appeared to proceed with that technique even following the layoffs earlier this yr.
What are your ideas? Let me know at [email protected], discover me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or ship us suggestions at [email protected].
Tesla executives are being extra vocal on X and in media appearances
