Photo Credit: Tanya Gazdik/MediaPost
Rivian is laying off 600 people, or about 4% of the workforce, an announcement that took many in the industry by surprise last week.
Two days before the news
broke on Oct. 23, the electric automaker revealed it is bringing back the brand’s creative Halloween software surprise, this year featuring a swamp-themed car costume, plus some other spooky effects.
And the day before the layoff news,
Rivian announced the first products from its micro-mobility startup called Also, an e-bike and two electric pedal-assisted quads. Rivian founder RJ Scaringe gave interviews at the event without a hint
of the news to come.
He called the upcoming arrival of the $45,000 R2 model "an inflection point,” according to Business Insider, which noted that this is not the company’s first
downsizing event, having laid off 10% of its salaried staff, marking the company's third round of layoffs since 2023. Rivian also laid off less than 1.5% of the workforce last month, according to
multiple reports.
In the memo Scaringe sent to employees detailing the layoffs, Scaringe discussed marketing changes.
“Historically we have had
multiple functions that collectively capture what would typically be housed in a single marketing organization,” Scaringe wrote in the memo. “We have made the decision to form a single
marketing organization, and while we recruit our first Chief Marketing Officer, I will be acting as Interim CMO. Our marketing experiences team, led by Denise Cherry, and the creative studio team, led
by Matt Soldan, will both report directly to me for now.”
Cherry, who spoke recently at MediaPost’s Digital Out of Home Insider, is the electric automaker’s vice
president of marketing and brand experience, which has essentially been the top marketing role at the company.
“These changes are being made to ensure we can deliver on
our potential by scaling efficiently towards building a healthy and profitable business,” Scaringe wrote.
The company is also “streamlining” the customer
experience, according to the email.
“Scaringe said Rivian is moving its ‘vehicle operations’ team and integrating it with the company’s service
division,” according to Tech Crunch. “Meanwhile, Rivian’s delivery
and ‘mobile operations’ will now live inside the sales division.”
While the news is certainly not positive for those effected by the layoffs, Rivian is poising
itself for a period of growth.
“I've never been more confident in the company than I am today,” Scaringe said recently during an Automotive Press Association event at the company's
development, prototyping and testing facility in Plymouth Township, Michigan.
It will definitely be interesting to see who is chosen as the company’s first CMO. They have a
big job ahead.
