Tesla Inc.'s head of human resources is reportedly leaving the company to join a startup that offers a recruiting service.
Heretofore one of the most prominent Black managers at Tesla, Valerie Capers Workman will become the chief legal officer at Stryder Corp, the company behind the Handshake job listing app, Bloomberg reported. Workman has been at Tesla for nearly four years and served as its vice president of people for the last 18 months.
In an email to Bloomberg, Workman said she was proud of what she had accomplished at the electric vehicle maker.
Citing her experience in track and field of needing to "pass off the baton in a better place than when I received it," she said in the email she was "confident that I have done this at Tesla."
Workman, Tesla and Stryder did not respond to requests for comment from the Business Journal.
It's unclear exactly when she will leave Tesla or when she will join Stryder. Her LinkedIn profile page indicates her tenure at Tesla will end this month.
Workman's departure comes as multiple women are suing Tesla, alleging that it enabled sexual harassment at its factory in Fremont. Her move also follows a $137 million verdict against the company last fall in a case where another Fremont factory worker accused the company of doing nothing to stop the racial abuse he experienced.
In December 2020, during Workman's tenure as its vice president of people, Tesla released its first-ever diversity report. According to that report, Black people comprise 10% of the automaker's workforce but just 4% of those in leadership positions at the company.
Tesla has not released a diversity report since, and it's not clear whether the company plans to do so.
Workman's departure also follows Tesla's decision to move its headquarters to Austin, Texas, which it announced in October and completed last month. Workman, according to her LinkedIn profile, is based in the Bay Area. It's unclear if the company's move played a role in her decision to leave.
