Among the recent recruits are former Nummi workers such as Eric Smith. Mr. Smith, 49 years old, spent 22 years at Nummi working in areas such as plastics and procurement. More recently, he was part of Nummi's transition team helping to wind down the factory, putting him in contact with Tesla executives.
Last month, Tesla hired Mr. Smith to be a plastics manager for the Model S. "I met Tesla executives on a Tuesday, got a job offer by Friday and they needed me to start on Monday," he says. "My family thinks it's great I got a job."