NORMAL, Ill. (25 News) – Electric vehicle-maker Rivian is reducing its workforce by about 4.5 percent as it prepares to launch a more economical R2 SUV next year.
25 News reports Rivian’s manufacturing employees in Normal are not affected by this latest layoff. The cutbacks mainly come from merging vehicle operations into Rivian’s service organization, combining delivery and mobile operations into the sales group, and forming a single marketing officer.
In a note to Rivian workers, company founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said he will become interim chief marketing officer.
“These changes are being made to ensure we can deliver on our potential by scaling efficiently towards building a healthy and profitable business,” Scaringe said. “I am incredibly confident in R2 and the hard work of our teams to deliver and ramp this incredible product.”
Rivian no longer shares the number of employees who work for the company, including at its factory in Normal. Company-wide, Rivian would be reducing its workforce by between 600 and 700 employees. Before a 1.5 percent workforce reduction announced in September and a 1 percent cut in June, Rivian’s total workforce was about 15,000.
“These are not changes that were made lightly. With the changing operating backdrop, we had to rethink how we are scaling our go-to-market functions,” Scaringe said. “This news is challenging to hear, and the hard work and contributions of the team members who are leaving are greatly appreciated.”
Production of Rivian’s R2 SUV is expected to start in the first half of 2026. The company’s website said the starting price is $45,000, compared to $76,900 for the R1.
Rivian’s stock price on Friday dipped almost 1 percent to $13.00 per share. The share price gained 1.3 percent for the week.
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