Rivian, an electric car manufacturer, is laying off another 6% of its workers. In July, the corporation decreased its workforce by the same percentage. According to Reuters, the carmaker employs over 14,000 workers and will lay off approximately 840 people this time.
Rivian says it is concentrating resources, as it did with the prior wave of layoffs, on boosting output and creating a successful firm.
“While this doesn’t impact manufacturing jobs in Normal, teams across the company will be losing passionate collaborators — teammates who stretched themselves daily and have given them all to help us execute on our mission,” CEO RJ Scaringe said in an email to staff.
Rivian is seeking to speed up the manufacturing of its R1T and R1S cars, as well as the Amazon delivery vans, as part of its drive toward profitability. Due to supply chain challenges, it had to reduce its production plan for 2022. According to Reuters, Rivian fell barely short of its aim of producing 25,000 automobiles last year.
The business is also working on more inexpensive R2 electric trucks, which it wants to mass-produce, although they won’t be available until 2026. Rivian will produce the such vehicle in a $5 billion plant in Georgia.
“Continuing to improve our operating efficiency on our path to profitability is a core objective and requires us to concentrate our investments and resources on the highest impact parts of our business,” Scaringe stated. “The changes we are announcing today reflect this focused roadmap.”
When Rivian publishes quarterly profits on February 28th, we’ll have a better idea of how the company is doing. The layoffs were announced shortly after Tesla and Ford reduced the pricing of their EVs, making it more difficult for emerging players like Rivian to compete. Arrival, an electric vehicle company, said earlier this week that it will lay off around half of its workers.
