In a job placement that has since been edited, Tesla looked to hire a Logistics Analyst who was fluent in English and Hindi.
The electric car company headed by Elon Musk is hiring and recruitment notices have been put up.
The advertisement said that potential candidates should possess at least three years of experience working with “Logistics in an automotive environment or in Logistics & Warehousing”.
It also added that candidates should have undergone tertiary education, though it is “preferred”, and apparently, not required.
One part of the ad said that candidates need to be fluent in both English and Hindi, though fluency in “other local languages is a bonus”.
This requirement was called out by a netizen on HardwareZone forum who posted about the job ad on January 14.
The user wrote to the Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep) and shared a screengrab of the email exchange. Listed amongst their reasons for calling out Tesla was: “The role is serving the Singapore market. English is (1) the language of business and (2) the unifying language across races in Singapore. English alone as a job requirement should be sufficient.
In summary, there is no clear justification on the job description (sic) why Hindi is required; if there is, then I fail to see it.
This is also a blatant breach of the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices with regards to Language”.
According to the ad, the Logistics Analyst in Singapore has to ensure “smooth vehicle movements to the correct locations” in a timely manner.
The hired personnel will also “co-ordinate the flow of parts from the third party logistics warehouse to Tesla Service Centres and Body Shops across the Singapore market”.
The job opening was posted on LinkedIn, and is also viewable on Tesla’s website.
After the backlash online, Tesla removed the Hindi-speaking requirement from its ad on its website.
The ad has been completely taken down from Tesla’s LinkedIn page. /TISG