Rivian is planning to relocate a significant portion of its manufacturing engineering team to its factory in Normal, Illinois. This move is aimed at centralizing the company’s workforce and accelerating production.
During the pandemic, Rivian hired engineers remotely from different states, resulting in a workforce scattered across the US. The unannounced relocation will allow for more centralized operations, with a considerable number of engineering team members being asked to relocate to central Illinois or the company’s headquarters in Irvine, California, according to a source that spoke with the Wall Street Journal.
The manufacturing engineering team being relocated is responsible for the design and functionality of Rivian’s sole production facility in Normal, Illinois. This team is in charge of designing the machines that help build the vehicles and laying out the assembly line. It is unclear how many employees will be affected by the reorganization.
As per the source, Rivian’s management has had some conversations with the manufacturing engineering team, and a few dozen employees have shown reluctance to relocate. The company plans to offer severance packages to those who do not wish to move and fill vacancies with new hires. The source said an official announcement of the plan is expected soon.
This consolidation of Rivian’s manufacturing team comes as the automaker is trying to cut spending after posting a net loss of $6.75 billion last year. To conserve cash, Rivian has conducted some layoffs and delayed the launch of its next generation R2 vehicles to 2026.
To help stem the cash bleed Rivian recently raised another $1.3 billion in convertible bonds from investors and claimed that it can fund its operations through 2025.
