French aerospace company sees surge in U.S. applicants after SpaceX relocation news: 'Come to Europe and we'll help you'

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Latitude, a French aerospace company based an hour outside Paris, is getting a surge of applications from American engineers after Elon Musk said he would relocate SpaceX headquarters from California to Texas. Within the last week, a spokesperson for Latitude says it received the equivalent of one month of applications to its hiring systems, and that 89% of those are coming from U.S.-based candidates. Those job seekers work at SpaceX, Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, Tesla and other companies related to the aerospace industry, the spokesperson tells CNBC Make It. The bump comes after Musk wrote on X on July 16 that he intends to move his company's base from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas. The SpaceX founder and CEO says his decision follows the passing of a new state law that bans school districts from requiring teachers to notify parents about changes to a student's sexual orientation and gender identity. Though it's unclear if, or when, SpaceX will leave California entirely, aerospace business leaders quickly used Musk's message to pitch themselves to the company's roughly 13,000 employees who may be concerned about their future career and relocation plans. Stanislas Maximin, CEO at Latitude, wrote in a LinkedIn post that Space X employees "looking to join an inclusive and highly ambitious rocket company" should contact him — and they did. "It was quite a surprise," Maximin tells CNBC Make It. Within a few days of his posts, he says he received some 200 messages of interest, and his LinkedIn network swelled from 6,000 to 9,000 connections. He says the message wasn't a takedown of Musk or SpaceX, which Maximin refers to as one of "the best engineering companies in the world." Rather, he says, "if you're not happy where you are, if you want different things, you can come to Europe, and we'll help you." A rising share of Americans may be willing to take up offers to relocate abroad. The number of American workers hired by international companies grew 62% last year, according to Deel, an HR platform that specializes in global hiring. U.S. search interest for "how to move" to a new country swelled following the first 2024 presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in June, while companies that help Americans relocate are seeing a surge in interest, too. Latitude, which has roughly 140 employees and a dozen job openings, has made a few hires from U.S.-based applicants before and says it will help new employees obtain a visa for themselves and any family members, find new work and school options for relatives, pay for relocation costs, and handle other necessary logistics. "We have done it multiple times over," Maximin says, adding that his company has "the full support of French authorities" to make the relocation happen quickly.