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Rivian (RIVN) to lay off 6% of employees

Rivian will lay off a chunk of its workforce to "conserve cash."

Donovan Erskine

February 1, 2023 11:50 AM

Rivian

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As the electric vehicle space has become more competitive, it’s also become turbulent. Recently, Tesla and Ford reduced prices on their EVs to stay competitive. Rivian (RIVN) has been in the EV game for several years now, but has been facing some struggles as its own. As the company looks to improve its efficiency, Rivian (RIVN) is laying off 6 percent of its workforce.

Rivian (RIVN) CEO RJ Scaringe announced the layoffs in an internal email to employees, which was obtained by CNBC. The CEO points to efficiency as the primary motivation behind the decision, saying that it must become the “core objective”. Rvian (RIVN) shares have decreased roughly 90 percent in value since the company’s $12 billion round of fundraising in 2021.

When Rivian (RIVN) became a publicly traded company in 2021, its stock closed at $100.73 per share on its first day on the market. Its value currently sits just above $19 per share, seeing a slight spike on today’s news. The lack of growth could partially be attributed to the company’s ambitious expansion after its record-breaking round of funding, which leadership is trying to address now. Scaringe has said that the layoffs will not affect workers at its Illinois factory, which is one of the company’s most efficient.

CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson spoke to the news of layoffs at Rivian, which we spotted in Reuters. "They're bleeding cash and would like to grow at a much faster rate, but they continue to struggle with their EV production ramp and have been unable to meaningfully drive down unit costs,"

Layoffs have been an unfortunate trend in the tech world over the past couple of months, and the EV industry is now being hit with layoffs itself. As we continue to monitor the biggest players, stick with Shacknews for everything you need to know about electric vehicles.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_