Layoffs in the tech sector have been in the spotlight in recent months as companies scramble to use all of their cost leverage to counteract shrinking sales. Tesla Inc. TSLAwhich could rightly be called an auto-tech company defied it industry-wide job cuts and expanded its workforce in 2022.

What happened: Tesla’s full-time employees, including those employed at its subsidiaries worldwide, totaled 127,855 at the end of 2022, the Austin, Texas-based company said in its release 10-q was filed with the SEC on Monday. This meant an increase of 29,000 from the 2021 level.

See also: Everything you need to know about Tesla stock

Incidentally, Tesla was among the first to announce job cuts in June 2022. CEO Elon Musk said in an email to employees that he plans to cut 10% of the workforce, adding that the company is overstaffed in many areas. He clarified that the corporate action does not affect those who build cars, battery packs or solar systems. Musk said the number of hourly workers would increase.

It was then said in an Electrek report in December Tesla planned a hiring freeze and would announce more job cuts in the first quarter of 2023.

The payroll expansion at Tesla, as revealed in the regulatory filing, shows that the company has continued to hire even during the cuts.

Why it matters: Mass layoffs in the tech industry accelerated late last year. Since the beginning of 2023, about 241 tech companies have shed about 77,916 jobs, according to Layoffs.fyi, which tracks job cuts from multiple sources.

amazon inc AMZN carried out several rounds of job cuts, with the latest announcement earlier this year calling for 18,000 job cuts. alphabet inc Google WELL and microsoft corp MSFT also announced plans to cut 12,000 and 10,000 jobs respectively this year.

Tesla’s hiring wave sends a positive signal for the company. Although demand and supply concerns resulted in an infrequent delivery…