Rivian to Lay Off More California Workers as EV Market Stalls

A Rivian electric pickup at a service center in South San Francisco on May 09, 2022. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Amazon-backed truck maker Rivian, once a rising star in the EV market, will lay off 92 employees in Orange County, according to a recent letter sent to California’s employment department.

In February, Rivian announced it would lay off 10 percent of its salaried workforce and produce fewer than expected vehicles in 2024, according to an announcement at the time, which sent its shares plummeting by $5 in just two days. The firm’s shares were selling at $11.19 as of May 14, down dramatically from November 2021, when they sold for nearly $130.

In a letter sent to the state’s Employment Development Department, Rivian’s vice president of people, Scott Griffin, said the layoffs will occur in three Orange County cities, Palo Alto in Santa Clara County, and San Francisco.

Rivian’s Irvine headquarters faces the bulk of the cuts, 89, with the others in Costa Mesa and Tustin. Two facilities on Hansen Way in Palo Alto can expect a combined 28 layoffs, and San Francisco will have one at its Utah Avenue facility, according to the letter.

The layoffs will begin around June 18 and are expected to be permanent, according to Mr. Griffin, but won’t mean an entire closure for any of the facilities.

The move follows a disappointing first quarter for the company, with its loss swelling to $1.4 billion, up from $1.3 billion last year. The troubles reflect wider concerns for electric car makers, which have seen sales stall as they try to reach consumers beyond the wealthy early EV enthusiasts. Even market leader Tesla announced in April that 10 percent of its global workforce would be laid off.

Earlier this year, Rivian laid off 240 workers in Palo Alto and around 150 in the Bay Area. In April 2023, 239 workers in Orange County were let go. The most recent cuts will affect just 1 percent of its workforce, according to a spokesperson.

“We continue to work to right-size the business and ensure alignment to our priorities,” a Rivian spokesperson said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

The job cuts will impact a variety of company departments including customer support, logistics, purchase operations, vehicle delivery, and human resources, according to the letter.

Several manager and director positions were listed, including the directors of talent acquisition and product research analytics in Irvine. One recruiter in San Francisco and three directors and two managers were among those in Palo Alto.