Rivian has laid off round 140 staff, or roughly 1% of its workforce, because it prepares for the launch of its extra inexpensive R2 SUV in 2026, TechCrunch has discovered.
The cuts have been principally made to Rivian’s manufacturing staff and have been ongoing since Wednesday, in response to a number of former staff who have been granted anonymity to discuss the layoffs. Some staff have been instructed that the corporate was eliminating roles that created “course of inefficiencies.”
Rivian confirmed the cuts in an e mail to TechCrunch. “We’ve got made the troublesome resolution to cut back a small variety of our salaried manufacturing staff as a part of an ongoing effort to enhance operational effectivity for R2,” a spokesperson wrote. The corporate mentioned affected staff are being inspired to use to different open positions inside the corporate.
Rivian started the yr with greater than 14,800 employees in North America and Europe, in response to its annual submitting with the Securities and Change Fee. The corporate has made a number of cuts over the previous few years, together with a ten% discount in early 2024, and another layoff of around 1% of staff in April 2024.