Rivian to Brief Employees on Potential Layoffs, Suspend Programs; Tesla Permanently Shuts San Mateo Office

Electric truck maker Rivian Automotive will brief employees on Friday on potential layoffs and plans to suspend some programs as part of a broader restructuring, Chief Executive R.J. Scaringe said in an email sent to employees on Monday evening.

Separately, electric-car maker Tesla will permanently shut its office in San Mateo, California, and will lay off 229 employees, a filing showed on Tuesday. They were working on the company's Autopilot driver-assistant system.

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk last month told top managers he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy and that the company needed to cut staff by about 10 percent.

In his email, which was shared by the company with Reuters, Scaringe said, "Rivian is not immune to the current economic circumstances and we need to make sure we can grow sustainably."

The company, he said, is "financially well positioned," but that it has begun "prioritising certain programs (and) stopping some."

Rivian had $16 billion (roughly Rs. 1,27,390 crore) in cash at the end of the first quarter and has told investors it had enough cash on hand to open its second US plant for $5 billion (roughly Rs. 39,810 crore) in 2025.

Rivian also has halted some non-manufacturing hiring, while "adopting major cost-down efforts" to reduce expenses, he said.

Scaringe said the company has begun to "assess the size and structure of our teams" and will be "as thoughtful as possible as we consider any reductions" in employee head count.

Rivian's stock closed up about 1 percent at $30.15 (roughly Rs. 2,400), while Tesla's shares ended the session marginally lower.

© Thomson Reuters 2022