Rivian Expands Layoffs With Additional 1% of Jobs Amid Growing EV Market Woes

Rivian Automotive, Inc. announced a new round of layoffs, and an additional one percent of its workforce is set to be terminated. The American electric vehicle manufacturer is reportedly implementing another job cut to improve its profitability amid intensifying competition in the market.

Necessary Move for Profitability

According to Electrek, Rivian is reducing its staff as it shifts focus to improving its profitability. It hopes to see good results by the end of the year. This comes after the company announced during its fourth quarter and full-year earnings report in February that it will dismiss 10% of its salaried employees.

In a statement, Rivian said the management will continue working to right-size the business and ensure this will align with the company’s priorities. The new one percent cut in the workforce is the second round in 2024. “This was a difficult decision, but a necessary one to support our goal to be gross margin positive by the end of the year,” Rivian said.

Who are the Affected Workers

Bloomberg reported that Rivian’s first layoffs, which affected 10% of its total employees, were focused on product teams who were working on the brand’s commercial electric vehicle business. On the other hand, the latest round will mostly let go of staff working in the support and back-office departments.

As of Dec. 31, Rivian had 16,790 employees, and with this number, it can be assumed that the company will dismiss around 150 more workers. Meanwhile, the EV maker previously said that the layoffs are also part of its cost-cutting efforts. It also revealed its plans to build or produce 57,000 units of vehicles this year.

“We firmly believe in the full electrification of the automotive industry but recognize in the short-term, the challenging macro-economic conditions,” RJ Scaringe, Rivian’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

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