Yahoo Finance‘Single greatest talent acquisition opportunity’: Elon Musk firing Tesla’s Supercharger team proves an unprecedented gift for the EV industry

Thanks to Elon Musk, the “single greatest talent acquisition opportunity in the industry” fell right into the lap of Aaron and Stephanie Luque—and they weren’t about to let the opportunity pass them by.
When the couple first founded their Georgia-based EV infrastructure company, EnviroSpark Energy Solutions, Aaron would go to their local Tesla showroom in Atlanta, hoping to get work setting up home charging for new customers.
Now, Musk’s carmaker would once again help EnviroSpark by sacking its entire Supercharger team just when the husband-and-wife duo was desperate for new workers.
“The day before we had closed the biggest raise in the company’s history, $50 million,” remembers Luque, telling Fortune the task of recruiting to fill all the headcount they needed appeared daunting.
When he learned of Tesla's bloodbath, he was shocked.
Access to the vast and reliable network of Superchargers—with its seamless integration and premium charging experience—was one of the most potent arguments why customers should buy Musk’s cars rather than a competitor’s.
On a private level, it was also tough because Luque had counted many employees as his friends.
“Every single person that I ever knew or loved at Tesla had been let go. They shared the same mission as us, they lived and breathed EV charging,” he adds.
One of those was George Bahadue, formerly senior manager for site acquisition and business development at Tesla.
“To my network, you've hit the jackpot—Tesla charging employees are a special breed, resilient and the best in the business. I highly encourage you to consider them as you build your teams and carry on the charging mission,” he posted to LinkedIn earlier this month.
Tesla still plans to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 30, 2024
Quick-thinking founders seize the moment
Luque’s wife seized the moment—reaching out to Bahadue on LinkedIn to say EnviroSpark was hiring for multiple roles and setting up an email hotline for Tesla employees.
The EnviroSpark homepage also added a pop-up banner urging former Tesla Supercharger staff to apply for their open positions.
According to Aaron, the company's CEO, over 100 resumes have been received since then. Given that the Tesla team only numbered around 500 globally, that’s a pretty good batting average for the quick-thinking duo.