NORMAL (25News Now) - Electric vehicle maker Rivian is laying off about 10% of its salaried workforce.
A companywide email from Rivian CEO and founder RJ Scaringe says a limited number of non-manufacturing hourly employees are also affected.
“We must strategically prioritize our growth areas of the business, including the launch of Peregrine and R2 as well as investing in our go-to-market capabilities,” the email says. “We’ve recently implemented several organizational and leadership changes, but we need to do more to achieve our strategic priorities.
Rivian currently employs approximately 16,700 people, including salaried and hourly workers, according to a Rivian spokesperson.
The spokesperson said the layoffs do not include hourly manufacturing workers at Rivian’s plant in Normal, where about 8,000 people are employed.
The layoffs were announced Wednesday as Rivian released fourth-quarter and full-year financial results.
Here is Scaringe’s email sent to Rivian workers:
Hi Team,
Team changes are the hardest decisions I have to make as CEO. I have some difficult news to share. Tomorrow, we’re reducing our salaried employees by approximately 10% along with a limited number of non-manufacturing hourly employees. I want to give you some additional context on how we came to this decision.
Our business is facing a challenging macroeconomic environment—including historically high interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty—and we need to make purposeful changes now to ensure our promising future. We must strategically prioritize our growth areas of the business, including the launch of Peregrine and R2 as well as investing in our go-to-market capabilities. We’ve recently implemented several organizational and leadership changes, but we need to do more to achieve our strategic priorities.
Tomorrow, February 22, employees who are impacted will receive a calendar invite between 7:30 and 8 a.m. PT for a 1:1 meeting with their manager later that same morning. We know the timing here is difficult – waiting between now and tomorrow to understand whether you’re impacted is far from ideal, but we want to ensure a considerate notification process that accommodates all time zones. We will be doing everything we can to support our impacted colleagues through the separation process, including severance, eligibility for Rivian-paid COBRA benefits coverage and access to job placement services. Also, anyone impacted tomorrow will still be eligible for our FY'23 bonus.
I recognize saying goodbye to friends and colleagues isn’t easy. I’m thankful for everyone’s contributions, and for those who leave us, I want to thank you deeply for everything you’ve done for Rivian, and for what you’ve done to advance our mission.
The layoffs were announced Wednesday as it released fourth-quarter and full-year financial results.
Rivian also announced it expects to produce 57,000 vehicles this year, which is close to 57,232 EV’s the company said it produced last year in Normal.
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