Rivian has laid off approximately 140 employees—around 1% of its global workforce—as part of a strategic restructuring to improve production efficiency ahead of the highly anticipated launch of its more affordable R2 electric SUV in 2026.
The job cuts, first reported by TechCrunch, primarily impacted Rivian’s salaried manufacturing staff. Sources familiar with the matter said the layoffs began on Wednesday and were framed as an effort to eliminate roles that contributed to “process inefficiencies.”
A Rivian spokesperson confirmed the decision, saying it was part of an “ongoing effort to improve operational efficiency for R2.”
Affected employees are being encouraged to apply for other open roles within the company, which began 2025 with a workforce of over 14,800 across North America and Europe.
This is just the latest round of cuts at Rivian, all of which have been part of a broader trend to cut costs. The company trimmed approximately 10% of its salaried workforce in early 2024 after projecting lower-than-expected production volumes for the year.
Just a few months later, in April 2024, Rivian took further action by trimming another ~1% of its workforce—mostly from support and non-manufacturing roles. In total, the automaker has been through at least three rounds of layoffs within 12 months, following earlier reductions of around 6% in July 2022 and again in May 2023.
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