Rivian cuts hundreds of workers after R2 deliveries start

Rivian has announced significant layoffs, impacting hundreds of employees just days after kicking off deliveries of its highly anticipated R2 SUV. According to a confirmation from the company to TechCrunch, these layoffs will affect less than 2% of its total workforce and are aimed at enhancing operational efficiency. This marks at least the fourth instance of workforce reductions for Rivian in 2024 alone. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on this recent wave of job cuts, which predominantly targets the service and customer support teams, including sales and marketing roles. Rivian has been striving to reach profitability by 2027, but has faced mounting challenges, accumulating losses nearing $30 billion. The company recently had to push back its profit timeline, citing high expenditures related to the development of autonomous vehicle technology. This delay was disclosed to investors alongside news that Uber plans to invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian and acquire as many as 50,000 R2 SUVs for its robotaxi fleet. However, Rivian has yet to prove its ability to deliver on such autonomous features, as its current offerings are limited to a basic hands-off, eyes-on-the-road capability.