Rivian has announced another round of layoffs, marking its third round of layoffs in just 12 months.
The latest layoffs affected about 1% of Rivian’s workforce. This move follows previous workforce reductions of 6% in July 2022 and May 2023, and 10% in February of this year, cumulatively impacting several thousand employees at its headquarters and factories.
The automaker confirmed the layoffs in a statement to Business Insider.
“We continue to work to right-size the business and ensure alignment to our priorities,. As a follow-up to some of the changes we made to teams in February, today we shared some additional changes to groups supporting the business. Around 1 percent of our workforce was affected by this change. This was a difficult decision, but a necessary one to support our goal to be gross margin positive by the end of the year,” a spokesperson said.
Rivian’s layoffs comes as the company has also delayed plans to build its second manufacturing facility in Georgia. At its first facility, Rivian has also temporarily shut down its production line to implement new technologies and production methods, aimed at achieving significant cost reductions.
Facing these challenges, Rivian has introduced several new initiatives to boost its market position and appeal to consumers. For example, the company recently announced that its R1T and R1S vehicles ordered from its inventory before the end of April will include a free XPEL Stealth paint protective film (PPF), valued at US$5,000.
Despite the layoffs and ongoing challenges, Rivian’s production and delivery numbers have had a strong start to the year. The company reported producing 13,980 vehicles in the first quarter, with 13,588 units delivered to customers. Rivian remains on track with its 2024 production guidance of 57,000 vehicles.
In 2023 Rivian delivered 57,232 electric vehicles.
