Report: Rivian to Lay Off 10 Percent of Its Workforce
Rivian customers love their vehicles and the brand, helping it achieve a top spot among premium brand owner satisfaction, but that hasn’t saved the automaker from an overall EV market that has grown less enthusiastically than hoped. The company recently announced that it would lay off 10 percent of its workforce, citing slower-than-expected sales and rising interest rates as being significant headwinds.
This round of layoffs will impact mostly salaried employees and a few others for a total of around 1,000 people. It’s the latest in a line of several layoffs the automaker has undertaken since 2022 when it cut six percent of its workforce.
Rivian plans to build 57,000 vehicles this year, which is flat from last year’s totals. CEO RJ Scaringe’s internal message to employees said, “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.” He also noted that high interest rates had put a dent in the company’s sales.
Despite those challenges, Rivian is on track to reveal its new R2 EV next month. The smaller, less expensive model will be the automaker’s fourth and is expected to be a compact SUV. However, while it’s debuting now, the R2 won’t go into production until late in 2026, which won’t do much to help Rivian’s bottom line this year.
[Image: Rivian]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Do they have unique technology that might interest another manufacturer?
Six percent here, ten percent there, and pretty soon you've got a dead brand.
Remember, layoffs are a major indicator of success and the insatiable demand for EVs.
It is not 10% of employees, it is 10% of salaried employees, a much smaller subset. Not good news generally, but not the worst.