Get the daily email that brings 100% Austin news, info, and entertainment direct to your inbox
Del Valle graduates could help fill the employee parking lot at Giga Texas, shown above, with the new program that aims at getting them a job at the electric vehicle maker. (@peterdog15/Tesla Owners of Austin)
Located only three miles from the $1.1 billion Tesla Gigafactory now under construction in southeast Travis County, Del Valle High School graduates are the logical choice to fill the 5,000 jobs to be created by the endeavor.
A recent partnership between the Del Valle school district and Tesla has sparked an untraditional path for students to find employment while meeting the needs of the electric car maker.
"Right now we're actually having joint sessions with Tesla where we are giving our students information about what's available at Tesla," said Alex Torrez, the district's deputy chief workforce development officer on Wednesday. It was only the second day on the job for the former Ojeda Middle School principal; the new position was created to liaise between Del Valle students and Tesla.
Alex Torrez was hired by Dell Valle ISD to assist students who want a future at Tesla. (Alex Torrez)
Four information sessions were held via Zoom on April 20 and 21 for three groups of students:
- seniors who are ready to start their careers at Tesla
- seniors who want to continue their education while working for Tesla
- juniors who will have an opportunity to apply to an internship program at Tesla next year
Tesla representatives, who could not be reached after multiple attempts, provided students with a broad overview of the type of employment they can expect, such as rotating 12-hour shifts consisting of four days on and three days off followed by three days on and four days off, Torrez said. Participants had the option to complete interest forms for potential employment. A district job fair is also in the works for this summer and will include Tesla's human resources personnel.
"There are going to be different lines of work and the students need to take a look at what's available, and then apply for the different opportunities that exist and then be prepared to interview," Torrez said. He added he's sure the openings will include production associates; however, the district's students won't all be funneled into one particular type of job.
Tesla promised to hire Travis County residents for at least half of its open positions and pay a minimum hourly wage of $15 last summer in exchange for tens of millions of dollars in property tax breaks to build the newest Tesla facility in southeast Travis County that will begin operating later this year.
Tesla CEO and recent Texas transplant Elon Musk has said on a number of occasions, he does not require Tesla workers to have a college degree and instead looks at skills set.
On March 31 Tesla Owners of Austin tweeted quotes from a recruiting executive at Tesla that stated the company is "well known for not requiring college degrees for some of its jobs," and is recruiting locally. So far, Del Valle is the only school district in Tesla's pilot program although the manufacturer is recruiting at Austin Community College, Huston-Tillotson University and the University of Texas, Torrez said.
Del Valle High School had 3,170 students as of the 2019-20 school year. About 70% of the school's students are identified as at risk of dropping out of school. However, Torrez said the actual dropout rate is only 0.5%, lower than the region and state. With 80% of its student body identified as economically disadvantaged, 96.7% of students received their high school diplomas on time or earlier.
Del Valle's staff is working with the car manufacturer to identify skills that will better help its students obtain jobs at the Austin-area facility. The plan includes coordinating those skills with the state's high school and college education standards, enabling students—through their coursework—to complete high school credits in conjunction with assisting them to be successful in a Tesla career.
"This is the launching pad for Tesla," Torrez said. "It's a really large factory and the potential for so many positive things is here. Next year, they're going to be here—we want our kids to be ready."
- Elon Musk says $1.1 billion Tesla factory will be in Austin - austonia ›
- Travis County offers Tesla incentives for Austin Gigafactory - austonia ›
- Tesla considering buying Austin site for new factory - austonia ›
- Del Valle ISD OKs Tesla tax deal for Austin factory - austonia ›
- New building seems to be in the works on Giga Texas site, records show - austonia ›
- Tesla can't sell directly to Texans unless law is uplifted - austonia ›
- Elon Musk to open Tesla restaurant after living in austin - austonia ›
- Tesla manufacturing program starts at Austin Community College - austonia ›
- Texas students' standardized test scores dropped dramatically - austonia ›
- Elon Musk files to sell Texas electricity - austonia ›
- Telsa obtains patent to use lasers as windshield wipers - austonia ›
- Tesla HQ looking more likely to follow Elon Musk to Austin - austonia ›
Popular
Austinites were the second happiest with the downtown area in the latest study with 15 markets. (CC)
After studying 7,500 people in 15 global markets, including Austin, Gensler found that life in COVID has pushed city-dwellers to want more outdoor activities, social spaces and entertainment venues in bustling business districts.
Post-pandemic, the highest-rated downtown activities were shopping, visiting parks and just “hanging out.” The need for more public spaces like parks jumped from sixth on the list to second this year.
Although globally people view downtown as a business district for task-based activities, across the U.S., downtown districts are viewed more as a vehicle for entertainment. This is especially true for Austinites, where people surveyed said they would rather see more entertainment and cultural venues than shopping or public transit downtown.
(Gensler)
For Melanie Gartman, a manager at construction software company Levelset who has been living in Austin for most of her life, the needs and wants of the average resident closely align with her own.
Austin clocked in second-most desirable downtown, tied with Charlotte, North Carolina. Like the 78% of Austinites in the survey, Gartman said she thinks Downtown Austin is hanging on to its lovable charm.
“Even now with fewer people out and about it's still very vibrant and lively. I feel like I saw life come back to downtown a lot sooner than I expected it to,” Gartman said. “It's still holding on a bit that Austin vibe and with the high rises coming in, it's scary that we could lose that. I think it's holding on better than I would have expected, especially within the last two years of everything that happened.”
As Austinites eased back into downtown, the first stop Gartman made was to go see music again. Since venues opened back up, Gartman and her loved ones have seen live music at their favorite venues: Moody Amphitheatre, Mohawk, The Parish and Empire Control Room.
Blackillac opened for Gary Clark Jr. at the Moody Amphitheater's first show back in August. (Laura Figi/Austonia)
Entertainment is most important for Gartman’s life in Austin—seeing Gary Clark Jr. in August brought normalcy back into her routine—and said our local downtown is the ideal out of other cities in Texas.
“I've always noticed that between Houston’s downtown and Austin’s, Houston's is so Monday to Friday, eight to five, maybe a post-work happy hour,” Gartman said. “Growing up, downtown (Austin) was always the place to go. It has always been the hub and I think Austin is unique in that way.”
Traffic in downtown areas is way down overall, even though concern over pandemic safety has taken a backseat. Shopping traffic has decreased by 28%, dining out and entertainment attendance dropped by 33% in the post-pandemic sphere.
Even though her office is located downtown, Gartman usually works from home. Her downtown visits tend to be for the purpose of entertainment and she said the lack of parking sometimes becomes problematic.
“I feel like all these high rises are taking over all the parking,” Gartman said. “It used to be for go-to parking, I would just park under I-35. No big deal. But now, that’s kind of scary, especially if you're by yourself. The party parking is a barrier to actually making it down there.”
But with the rise of the hybrid work model, it’s likely that the downtown sphere is going to change all across the U.S. For now, survey participants said they would like to see their downtown reduce traffic, add more green space, improve the cityscape and increase parking capacity as we shape the future of cities.
