Job cuts at Rivian began in late July as the electric vehicle startup raced to cut costs in the face of a challenging economic climate and increased production pressure.
In response to the layoffs, dozens of workers who claim to be ex-employees have confirmed their departures on LinkedIn using the hashtag # Rivianlayoffs. According to Rivian, the layoffs will affect approximately 6% of the company’s 14,000-person workforce.
The Volter first reported earlier this month that the automaker planned hundreds of layoffs. According to other reports, this will primarily affect departments that are less critical to manufacturing and production. A Rivian spokesperson confirmed that manufacturing positions are unaffected.
The developments come less than a year after Rivian’s record-breaking initial public offering, in which the company raised $11.9 billion, making it the largest IPO of 2021. Rivian was a Wall Street darling when it went public, with a valuation of $66.5 billion. The listing came after a string of EV startups went public, the majority of which did so through reverse mergers with special purpose acquisition companies. But Rivian’s share price has plummeted in recent months amid a wider downturn in financial markets. In the first half of this year, its stock tumbled 75%, leading to hefty on-paper losses for its investors.
Amazon reported losses of $11.5 billion on its stake between the first and second quarters. During the same period, Ford lost $7.9 billion on its Rivian investment. Together, the two own roughly 27% of Rivian’s outstanding shares.
Rivian began selling its first vehicle, the R1T pickup truck, in September of last year, ahead of legacy automakers such as Ford and General Motors, which later launched their own electric trucks. Following months of delays, the company expects to begin shipping its second consumer model, the R1S SUV, as early as August. It also manufactures a delivery van for Amazon.
Rivian has struggled with a slower-than-expected production ramp-up this year, delivering 1,227 vehicles in the first quarter and reporting 4,467 deliveries in the second. The company expects to produce 25,000 vehicles this year, which is half of its initial production target for 2022. Rivian is not the only EV startup that has been impacted by ongoing economic concerns, supply chain constraints, production delays, and other factors. The Rivian spokesperson said on Friday that “this decision will help align our workforce to our key business priorities, including ramping up the consumer and commercial vehicle programs, accelerating the development of R2 and other future models, deploying our go-to-market programs; and optimizing spend across the business,” the Rivian spokesperson told Insider on Friday. “We’re deeply grateful for each departing team member’s contribution in helping build Rivian into what it is today.” They will always be part of the Rivian story and community.“
