Tesla reportedly withdraws offers to graduating students

Several web users claiming to be graduating university students said on Chinese social media that their job offers from Tesla had been rescinded, putting them in the lurch because they had missed the greatest job-hunting opportunity.

According to posts on Chinese social media platforms Weibo and Xiaohongshu, as well as the recruitment website nowcoder.com, Tesla's human resources staff recently called the students and informed them of the withdrawal, admitting that all graduating students for whom they were responsible had been let go.

There were also claims that the company had agreed to pay compensation – one month's pay – but required all clauses to remain confidential. In the event of a contract breach, the company had the right to claim compensation.

As of yet, Tesla has not responded to the claims.

Zhuang Xinwang of Duan&Duan Law Firm said that the Labor Contract Law does not apply because the students have not officially joined the company.

"The employer's responsibility should be more reasonably defined in the employment agreement to better protect the interests of students," Zhuang said.

Other Internet users expressed sympathy for the affected students. They claimed that Tesla had not broken the law but had offered compensation, but it hurt the students because the recruiting season for graduating students had almost ended, as most companies had completed their campus recruitment. Some students may have rejected good options in favor of working at Tesla.

Few others argued that Tesla should not have undertaken the recruitment program as it was laying off staff globally.

Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, said on April 15 that the company will lay off more than 10 percent of its global workforce as it deals with declining sales and a growing price battle for electric vehicles.

Musk last announced job layoffs in 2022, telling CEOs that he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy.

As of December 31, last year, Tesla's global workforce was 140,473, with 14,000 employees affected. Sales is one of the departments most affected by layoffs.

Interestingly, some users, claiming to be HR personnel from local electric car firms such as NextEV and Zeekr, extended job invitations under the posts of some students.