Tesla becomes Austin’s largest private employer as the headcount at Gigafactory Texas surges to a ridiculously high level.

The automaker is a fan of large manufacturing projects. Most of its facilities are referred to as “gigafactories” because they produce batteries, vehicles, or power electronics in volumes calculated by the “gigawatt-hour.

And those facilities employ an impressive number of people.

Gigafactory Texas in Austin is the best example.

We were shocked to learn that Tesla was already employing 20,000 people at the complex last September.

Now, in a new report filed with Travis County’s economic development program (via Bloomberg), Tesla confirmed it grew its headcount to 22,777 workers in Austin over the last few months.

That’s enough to surpass H-E-B to become the new largest private employer in the Texas capital.

Tesla’s headcount growth in the last few months at Gigafactory Texas can be explained by the start and ramp-up of Cybertruck production.

The automaker also moved its headquarters to Gigafactory Texas and it has been growing many engineering teams in Austin – although its engineering headquarters remain in Palo Alto, California.

More than 22,000 Tesla employees in Austin is quite an incredible number, but Tesla expects that number to grow to an even more ridiculous level.

The automaker previously disclosed that it expects to eventually employ more than 60,000 people in Austin.

That’s due to the continued growth of its headquarters, but Tesla also plans to add the production of its next-gen electric vehicles at Gigafactory Texas over the next two years, which should require tens of thousands of additional workers.

Furthermore, Tesla also plans to keep ramping up Cybertruck production as well as 4680 cell production, which also require more employees.

Tesla is currently expanding its already massive main Gigafactory Texas building on top of building additional facilities around the main campus.