Rivian says it's shedding 10 p.c of its workforce as EV disaster deepens

Rivian said it is laying off 10 percent of its workforce as concerns remain about slowing electric vehicle sales across the industry.

The company made the announcement as part of its fourth-quarter earnings report, in which it said it will make no more vehicles this year than in 2023. Rivian's share price fell on this news.

Rivian has gone through several rounds of layoffs in its short history. The company is set to let go of 6 percent of its workforce in both July 2022 and May 2023. This current round of layoffs is expected to affect more than a thousand employees at the Irvine, California-based company, which has a combined workforce of 16,700 salaried and hourly employees. ,

A spokeswoman said the layoffs would affect mostly the company's salaried employees as well as a limited number of hourly non-manufacturing workers, but declined to provide exact numbers.

“Our business faces a challenging macroeconomic environment – ​​including historically high interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty – and we need to ensure our promising future,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in an email to employees. There needs to be purposeful change now.” “We must strategically prioritize our growth areas of the business, including the launch of Peregrine and R2, as well as investing in our go-to-market capabilities. We have recently implemented several organizational and leadership changes, but we need to do more to achieve our strategic priorities.

Rivian said it expects to produce 57,000 vehicles in 2024, about the same number it made in 2023. The company cited “[e]conomic and geopolitical uncertainties and pressures, significantly the influence of traditionally excessive rates of interest” as its rationale for the flat. Manufacturing method.

The corporate will subsequent month unveil its second-generation R2 automobile, which is predicted to be a smaller, extra inexpensive compact SUV.