Rivian confirms at least 800 layoffs, shifts focus to accelerating production

Amy Mast, a spokesperson for Rivian Automotive, has confirmed in an email that at least 6% or 800 out of 14,000 of its employees will be laid off to speed up the development of upcoming electric vehicles. In recent months, a number of automotive companies have laid off significant portions of their workforces.

Miranda Jimenez, earlier this month, discussed their plans in an email to The Verge, “We’ve implemented changes across Rivian, including prioritizing certain programs (and stopping some), halting certain non-manufacturing hiring and adopting major cost down efforts to reduce material spend and operating expenses.”

Rivian is hitting new objectives by increasing the production of its pickups, SUVs, and delivery vans for Amazon. In a recent report, the company produced around 2,553 vehicles and delivered less than half of the new cars produced. Rivian is still confident that it will reach its production target of 25,000 cars in 2022. 

Other automakers are also laying off their employees, including Ford, who announced they would be laying off 8,000 employees. Tesla also recently decided to cut at least 10% of its salaried workforce to cut costs. Rivian hopes to construct and deliver more vehicles than Tesla, their rival and one of the largest EV companies in the world.