Rivian is cutting fewer than 2% of its employees to bring costs under control as it works towards profitability.
In a statement to Just Auto, the company said: “We recently restructured a handful of teams within Rivian as we work to profitably scale our business.”
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The cuts affect Rivian’s service and customer organisation, including sales and marketing teams.
The job cuts were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The company said employees affected by the decision would be able to apply for other open positions internally.
The reductions amount to hundreds of jobs. Rivian had 15,232 employees across North America and Europe at the end of last year.
The latest round of layoffs comes as Rivian rolls out the R2 SUV, a smaller and more affordable model seen as central to broadening the company’s customer base and improving its financial position.
Rivian has already said it no longer expects to achieve its 2027 adjusted core profit target, as it increases spending on research and development to accelerate its autonomous driving plans.
Rivian posted a $3.6bn loss last year while delivering 42,247 vehicles.
Rivian last reduced its workforce in October, when it cut more than 600 roles, or about 4.5% of staff. That move followed softer demand after key US tax credits expired in September.
In March this year, Rivian spun out its electric micromobility business into a new start-up, called ‘Also’, which aims to develop small, lightweight electric vehicles (EVs).
In connection with the spin-off, Also secured a $105m investment from venture capital fund Eclipse Ventures for its next phase of growth.
In the same month, Uber agreed to invest up to $1.25bn in Rivian as part of a deal that could see the ride-hailing group buy as many as 50,000 autonomous vehicles.
Under the arrangement, Uber said it would put in $300m upfront. The total could rise to as much as $1.25bn in equity by 2031 if Rivian hits milestones linked to its self-driving technology, Uber said in a statement.
