--- title: "Elon Musk Rivals Snatch Up Laid-Off Tesla Employees" description: "Gold Rush One (recently missing) billionaire's bad feeling is another billionaire's hiring spree, apparently. Business Insider reports that in the wake of Elon Musk-helmed Tesla's latest round of widespread layoffs, several big name tech organizations — notably including both Microsoft and Amazon, led respectively by vocal Musk nemeses Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos — are employing […]" date: "2022-07-07" modified: "2022-07-08" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/musk-rivals-laid-off-tesla-employees" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "jeff bezos" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Rivals Snatch Up Laid-Off Tesla Employees ![In the wake of Elon Musk's latest round of widespread Tesla layoffs, several big name tech organizations are employing newly ex-Teslians left and right.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Gold Rush One billionaire's "[super bad feeling]()" about the global economy is another billionaire's hiring spree. In the wake of Tesla's latest round of [widespread layoffs](), several big tech companies — including both Microsoft and Amazon, led respectively by vocal Tesla CEO Elon Musk nemeses [Bill Gates]() and [Jeff Bezos]() — are snatching up ex-Tesla employees left and right, *Business Insider* [reports](). ## OMW According to [LinkedIn data]() sourced by a private network of Fortune 500 executives called Punks & Pinstripes, rival electric vehicle manufacturers Rivian and Lucid picked up 90 of 457 recent Tesla departures between them. Amazon and Apple — the latter of which has been trying to get a [secretive and cursed autonomous car project]() off the ground for years — snagged 51 former Tesla employees each. Others migrated to other tech giants including Meta and Microsoft. ## WFH The hiring sweep comes on the heels of Musk's [anti-remote work decree](), after which several companies — Amazon and Microsoft in particular, [according to *Insider*]() — began to cast some pretty targeted recruiting nets. "If the Emperor of Mars doesn't want you, I'll be happy to bring you over to \[Amazon Web Services\]," read a simmering LinkedIn post by Zafar Choudhury, a recruiter at Amazon, in response to the work from home drama, as quoted by *Insider*. The surprise Tesla layoff announcement came just a few days later. The EV company has had a rotten year so far. Tesla's [controversial](), [semi-automated driving tech]() is facing a massive [government recall](), while Musk is trying to rein in spending, referring to the company's factories as "[gigantic money furnaces]()." Clearly, Tesla's [got plenty of stuff]() to figure out — and its competitors are reaping the benefits. **READ MORE:** *[Rivian, Amazon, and Apple are snapping up laid-off Tesla employees amid Elon Musk's workforce-reduction plans]()* \[*Business Insider*\] **More on Tesla firing strategy:** *E[x-tesla Employee Says He Was Fired by Phone Call, While on Vacation]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()