Tesla has created the new job “Data Collection Operator, Optimus” in Grünheide, in which employees train robots by following predetermined paths and handling objects.
The data collectors carry up to four kilograms of motion capture equipment, start recording devices, upload data and write daily reports, and are expected to be flexible for shifts, weekends and overtime.
The position includes assignments at Tesla locations and in “public environments,” Tesla does not provide further details about public data collection.
Tesla is planning far-reaching developments with the Optimus robot; Elon Musk sees it as a core product and says Optimus will eliminate poverty and make work optional for people.
Dusseldorf. The US electric car manufacturer Tesla is creating a new profession in its gigafactory in Grünheide. Those who practice it don't build cars. He walks along predetermined paths for more than seven hours a day, carries up to four kilograms of recording technology and moves objects so that a robot learns how people do it.
The position is called “Data Collection Operator, Optimus”, in German: data collector. Optimus is the company's new humanoid robot. Tesla advertised the job in the internal job portal for the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg. It is a full-time position.
The data collectors are supposed to “handle items” and follow testing protocols, according to the ad. They wear motion capture equipment, start and stop recording devices, upload the data and write daily reports. We are looking for people with “enthusiasm for robotics” and “flexibility for shifts, weekends and overtime”.
First came the Ghostbusters backpacks
In July, Tesla announced to the workforce by email that selected teams would wear cameras at work after the factory holidays. Optimus needs “as much real data as possible”. For everyone else there was a hint: “So if you see colleagues at work with Ghostbusters-like backpacks in the factory after the summer holidays, you know: we’re working on the future here.”
It remained unclear at the time whether Tesla would hire its own staff in Germany for this purpose. The group has been looking for full-time data collectors in the USA since 2024, for example in Palo Alto and Fremont. Tesla lists an hourly wage of $25.25 to $34.50 in its advertisements.
The German tender, which is available to the Handelsblatt, is almost word for word the same as the American one. For San Diego, however, Tesla requires you to carry up to 30 pounds of equipment, around 13.6 kilograms, and be between 1.70 and 1.83 meters tall. In Grünheide it is four kilograms, there is no size requirement. The ad does not mention an hourly wage, but promises an “attractive compensation package”.
Collecting data “in public environments”
The advertisement lists Tesla locations and “public environments” as locations. It doesn't say where the data collectors should go outside the factory and what they record there. Tesla left a question from the Handelsblatt unanswered.
When the camera tests started, it was unclear whether the works council was involved. According to information from the Handelsblatt, the committee did not discuss the project in July, and chairwoman Michaela Schmitz left a question unanswered.
The Bonn labor lawyer Gregor Thüsing said at the time: “It is not part of an employee’s job duties to train a robot that can replace them.”
Plant manager André Thierig told the “Tagesspiegel” at the beginning of November that Tesla was already where other manufacturers wanted to be. He listed electric vehicles, photovoltaics and electricity storage, and in the future also the Optimus robot. When asked what would come off the production line in the planned second factory hall, Thierig replied that “theoretically everything could be produced there”.
Musk: Optimus will eliminate poverty
Elon Musk's hopes for his robot extend far beyond car production. "Optimus will be by far the largest product of all time," the Tesla boss said at a staff meeting in March 2025. "Nothing will even come close. It will be 10 times larger than the next largest product ever made."
On September 1, 2025, Musk predicted on X that Optimus would account for around 80 percent of Tesla's value. At the general meeting in November he declared: “Optimus will actually eliminate poverty.” In April 2026, Musk wrote that anyone could have a penthouse if they wanted.
On July 2, 2026, Musk described a future without necessity and coercion: “AI and robots will be able to do everything.” Work becomes “optional” for people. The job posting for Grünheide now says: “Come to Tesla and help us build a world of amazing abundance.”
