Rivian is joining countless other tech and EV companies in announcing layoffs in preparation for a recession.
Rivian announced that they would be cutting their workforce by 6 per cent in headcount.
As per reporting by TechCrunch, CEO RJ Scaringe confirmed the news in an email to staff yesterday.
In the email, Scaringe said:
Over the last six months, the world has dramatically changed with inflation reaching record highs, interest rates rapidly rising and commodity prices continuing to climb — all of which have contributed to the global capital markets tightening. We are financially well positioned and our mission is more important than ever, but to fully realize our potential, our strategy must support our sustainable growth as we ramp toward profitability. We need to be able to continue to grow and scale without additional financing in this macro environment. To achieve this, we have simplified our product roadmap and focused on where it is most impactful to deploy capital.
With a workforce of around 14,000 people, the layoffs are expected to be in the hundreds.
However, unlike some other automakers, Rivian is being quite generous to those that are let go.
The automaker severance packaged include:
- 14 weeks of regular pay and health coverages
- COBRA benefits and continuation of mental health and fertility benefits through to the end of the year
- Job placement assistance
- Q3’s equity vesting
Rivian confirmed that the cuts will not affect manufacturing operations at its Normal, Illinois plant.
